


Spikemuth Girls

by Tourist_Gabriel



Series: Spikemuth Girls [2]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Developing Friendships, Developing Relationship, F/F, Secret Crush, Teen Crush
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-26
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:47:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 28,900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28343370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tourist_Gabriel/pseuds/Tourist_Gabriel
Summary: Dory's first day at The City of Wyndom School. She is going with her crush and ends up in a battle.
Relationships: Dory Joy (The OC)/Bea, Dory Joy (The OC)/Marnie, Mary | Marnie & Original Character(s), OC/Bea, OC/Marnie, Saitou | Bea/Original Character(s)
Series: Spikemuth Girls [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2075658
Kudos: 2





	1. To The Girl With The Mousy Hair

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Way I write changes a lot, this isn't how future chapters will look. At this point, my writing style has changed twice.

Dory woke up at 6:30 in her Spikemuth apartment, her Hoenn Zigzagoon, Elton, slept on her lap while her Galarian Zigzagoon, Mercury, was snoring in his ripped up Skitty bed in one corner of her room that was covered in scratch marks, a few new scratches from the previous night. The rest of her room was a bit better, it had fading beige wallpaper and band posters scattered around the walls, her electric guitar, and her backpack rested against her unpainted bed frame, her bed had a dark pink covering and a few plush toys on it. She scratched her Zizagoon a little while whispering to him in a joyful voice “Morning Elton, I have to get out of bed”, Elton groaned a little and rolled off of her so she can slide out of bed. She went to her closet to grab her school uniform, a white Polo and a black skirt, and her favorite snow boots, she grabbed her favorite hoodie to wear over her uniform, it was black with a magenta interior. She brushed her curly dirty blonde hair a little (she didn’t care much for hair care) and went out.

It was her first day as a sophomore and she was already comfortable with her morning routine, waking up early so she had plenty of time to get to school. Her mother, however, was always in a rush, she is a Nurse and spends long hours working at the Spikemuth Pokemon Center, She worked until 2 AM, planned to wake up at 6 AM to get to work at 7 AM, but oversleeps until 6:30 and rushes . As Dory entered, she saw her mother running about to make breakfast as her Indeedee, lovingly named Lares, assisted her. Dory called out to her “Morning Mum”, and her mom hastily replies: “Morning Sweetie, Lares can you give Dory some breakfast, my hands are full”, Lares nods and goes to the counter to make some cereal and brew tea as Dory’s mother quickly rushed into her bedroom to change into her uniform. Dory takes a seat and Lares gives her a bowl of cereal and some Tea, “Thanks Lares” she says smiling at him. As she thanks him, her mother rushes out in her uniform and says “Come on Lares, we have to get to the Pokemon Center, bye Sweetie!”, She quickly kisses Dory on the forehead and rushes out the front door with Lares behind her closing the door.

Dory ate her breakfast and put her tea into a canister as she returned Elton and Mercury to their Pokeballs while grabbing her other Pokémon, her bag, and her guitar. She goes to the bottom floor of the apartment block and looks out to see if a certain crush of hers was going by, she usually isn’t so Dory goes along through Spikemuth. She pulls her hood up and travels through Route 9, the tunnel, Route 7, and then enters Hammerlocke where she stops by her Aunt Joy’s Pokemon Center to grab herself some lunch since Dory’s Mom didn’t have time to make it most days and called her sister to make Dory’s lunch. She takes the train from Hammerlocke to Wyndom where she walks the rest of the way to her school, The City of Wyndom School. 

The school is a large campus composed of four buildings that surround a park. The building to the west of the park was dedicated to the arts, with sound insulating music rooms, kitchens for baking, and several rooms full of canvases and art supplies. There were two buildings to the north, both buildings were the main classrooms with hallways on the second and third floor to link the two buildings together, the leftmost building had English and math classes, as well as guidance offices, Principal’s office, and breakroom for the teachers. The rightmost building has history and math, with several labs for different fields of study, as well as the homerooms. The building to the east side featured the gym, auditorium, and locker rooms, the side of the building was also the small kitchen for students who had to get lunch at school. Dory went to her locker in the Arts building to put away her hoodie and guitar, she also put away some of her Pokéballs, only keeping her aces, Elton and Mercury on hand. After that, she’d usually go to the park at the school until her class started, after the first class she went to homeroom.

Only four periods peaked her interest: Music, Lunch, English, and Gymnastics. She loved her music class as she loved music, learning to read sheet music, and learning the different chords and potential compositions. Lunch, English, and Gymnastics had the same reason for interesting her, her crush, Marnie. Marnie lives in Spikemuth and her older brother is the gym leader of Spikemuth, despite her brother being a gym leader, Marnie wasn’t that popular, in fact, she was as quiet as Dory, she often spent her time reading or training with her Morpeko, which just made Dory more interested in the strategic bookworm. Dory has made several attempts to win Marnie over: getting her a Spritzee as a gift, getting a Morpeko so they had something in common that they could talk about, or just going up and talking to her. But she couldn’t bring herself to gift the Spritzee and now keeps it, the Morpeko was always in Hangry form and barely listened to her, and talking, whenever she even came close to Marnie she froze up and her mind completely left her body. She doesn’t know what to say, she looks into her eyes and the sky's the limit, she’s helpless, down for the count and drowning in them as she ends up walking away again. She and Marnie had Lunch at the same time and the same English class so Dory could admire her from afar, or at least from a few seats away or from a bench away. Marnie took a class on battling while Dory took gymnastics, both classes took place either outside in the park or in the gym, right next to each other. Dory had the chance to watch and admire Marnie’s focus and decisiveness in battle, but never muster any courage to go up and talk to her.

It was only the first day, Dory hadn’t signed up for any clubs or teams yet, unsure of what she’d do. She grabbed her Hoodie, Pokéballs, and guitar before going to the park. There was a corkboard that had sign up sheets and information about the various teams and clubs, several students were already looking at it. She saw a few flyers for a “Galar High School Tournament” and took one, the Tournament was held every year and is a precursor to the gym challenge in the summer. Sometime in December, a smaller league occurs at the school to get the three strongest trainers at the school for a team. As she examined the flyer in curiosity, a voice came from behind her, “Don’t tell me I’ll have to go against someone else to get in the team” it said, The voice was strong and a little effeminate. She turned around and got a good look at the person behind her, he was her height and had fluffy platinum blonde hair with intimidating purple eyes, he wore a male equivalent to her uniform (the white polo but with black dress pants instead of a skirt) and she’d seen him in her history class but missed his name as Marnie was passing in the hall. She was a bit annoyed and answered him “I was just reading the flyer, I’m not the battling type”, the boy scoffed “Oh yeah, well I’m the adoptive son of Chairman Rose, the person running the Tournament and the Gym Challenge”. Dory was unimpressed and she made it clear as she tells him, “so what is it rigged so you’ll get in no matter what?”, he got offended and replied to her enraged: “You think I can’t actually battle!”, Dory nervously responds as he completely flips the conversation “N-no! I was just saying cause you brought up the Chairman Rose thing and-“ before she could say anything he grabbed her wrist and started dragging her towards the field where the battling class was.

“What are you doing?” She asked as they arrive at the field, he answered her very annoyed “We’re battling to prove my strength of course!”. He gets her to one side of the field and he goes to the opposite side as he states “Tournament rules, only 3 Pokémon each, no potions, no revives”, Dory sighed, she had nothing else to do after school but look at the club board so she reluctantly went through her bag to select her team. She avoided the dark ball containing her Morpeko who never listened to her, she decided on Mercury her Galarian Zigzagoon, Pink her Sylveon, and Lennon her Zorua. She let Mercury out first, the boy throws a Pokeball and releases a Cufant. Before they could say ready, the boy immediately commands his Cufant “Iron Head!”, the Cufant rushes forward and slams into Mercury, pushing him back. Dory wasn’t ready and hastily commands, “Use Thief Mercury!” Mercury quickly rushes behind Cufant and scratches him, the boy chuckles as he calls out “Hah! Thief? You think my Cufant is holding an item?” Dory got angry as she yelled back at him, “I told you I’m not the Battling type!”. He chuckles as he confidently responds “then this should be easy, Bulldoze”, The Cufant rushes forward and hits Mercury, jetting him back as Dory thinks quickly “Mercury, Bite!”, Mercury runs forward but the Cufant dodges and Mercury ends up biting the ground before he can get up, the boy yells out with a smile “Stomping Tantrum!” And the Cufant gets angry and slams into Mercury, making him faint. Dory groans as Mercury returns, she brings out her Sylveon Pink with reluctance, making the blonde boy laugh as he taunts “A Sylveon! Do you know nothing about type matchups? You’re just destined to lose this aren’t you?”. Dory honestly didn't care but the boy continued, “alright, I’ll humor you, since you’re ‘not the battling type’” he has Cufant return and brings out a Hattrem but doesn’t give her the first move as he confidently commands “Psybeam”. The Hattrem fires a laser at Pink, but she jumps out of the way as Dory takes the chance to attack, “Draining Kiss!” Pink happily rushes forward and kisses the Hattrem on the cheek to take her health.

As the battle continues, a limousine drives near the school. Before the boy could give another command, a tall blonde woman wearing a form of suit and lab coat steps out of her car, the boy turns around to face her, he turns back to Dory “I have to leave for home now, I’ll take you on some other time”. He walks towards the car and Dory yells out to him “You can’t just defeat one of my Pokémon and Leave! Can I at least get your name!?”. He turns to her when in the car “My name is Bede” the Lady follows him into the car and closes the door before driving away.

Dory sat down on a bench to use a revive on Mercury and heal him and Pink. She let them stay out of their Pokéballs as she starts walking back to the corkboard, Mercury on her shoulder and Pink walking beside her. As they reach the board, Marine is there and reading a flyer for the High School Tournament, Dory quickly hides behind a tree making Mercury fall off her shoulder. Pink gets excited seeing Marnie, Pink wraps a feeler around Dory’s arm as she tries pulling Dory to talk to Marnie, Pink has always been a lover of romance stories, especially loving her trainer’s story. Pink’s feelers would calm Dory a little, but upon seeing Marnie, Dory felt her heart racing and would try pulling back, Dory gets nervous and has both Pink and Mercury return before hiding behind a tree as Marnie looks over. Marnie shrugs it off and walks away, Dory rushes and remembers how Marnie took a tournament flyer, she looked at the corkboard and there was a small flyer for becoming a cheerleader. She took a flyer for herself, a little interested.

Since Marnie and Dory lived in the same town, they took the same route home, Dory often dreamed of them walking home together, side by side, laughing with each other, hand in hand in happy bliss, but for now, she awkwardly followed behind her. When the train came, she’d go between some people to get a seat close to Marnie, though there were two people between them. As she sat down, Marnie got a call and would answer it, and Dory could hear it as clear as day, “Hey Bro… Don’t worry I’m almost home...yeah… I had a good first day”, Dory listened to the strong, calm, and comfortable voice Marnie spoke with and nearly swooned on the train, Dory felt a little guilty listening in, but it’s a train so privacy doesn’t exist. She then heard something that gave her an idea: “Yeah… well I found out the school is in the Galarian Tournament and I’m going to try out for the team”. Dory heard and quickly looked at the cheerleading flyer before getting an idea.

Dory and Marnie get off at Hammerlocke and then walked to Spikemuth. Dory silently followed her all the way until her home was there, she walked to her front door and then looked in Marnie’s direction, just pining for the day Marnie would look back and wave goodbye to her or blow her a kiss goodbye. Dory went up to her apartment where she was surprised to see her mom was making her dinner with help from Lares, “Hi Mum… you’re home early” she said as she went towards her room, her Mom happily responded “Hi Sweetie, I was able to convince your Aunt Joy to take over my shift tonight so I can have dinner with you on your first dinner after school as a Sophomore”, she smiled at Dory warmly and Dory smiles back, “Cool Mum, I usually just relax in my room, I’ll just change and come join you for dinner when it’s ready”, her mom waved and responded, “Okay Sweetie”. Dory went to her room and let her pokemon out, her Spritzee “Starr” flew around and perched herself on Dory’s bedpost, her Zorua “Lennon” stretched a little and walked into Dory’s closet, her Morpeko (who she doesn’t name out of their mutual hatred of each other) bit her and went to a corner of the room, Mercury pounced on Elton to fight, and Pink gave Dory an annoyed look. Dory sighs as she speaks to Pink “Sorry about earlier”, Pink still looked annoyed, “and I know I know, I should just talk to Marnie but… but it’s hard okay!”, Pink didn’t care and Dory smiles “But I have a plan! and it will involve some help from you” Pink was confused but would hear her out, Dory took a deep breath before talking “I’m going to become a cheerleader, Marnie will get into the Galar High School Tournament and I’ll cheer her on, so I’ll need your help to train myself” Pink got excited and Dory smiled at her. Dory quickly changed into her favorite outfit, magenta and black leggings, a black tank top, and her hoodie, she then began looking on Porygoogle for videos on training to be a cheerleader as Pink read through all her books about Cheerleaders, which were all manga.

Soon enough, her mom finished making her favorite Shepard’s Pie and Dory rushed out to start eating, as Dory and her mom ate, Lares would set out food for all the Pokemon. Dory wasn’t the most elegant eater when compared to her mother, She ate like her Pokémon did, her mother decided to start a conversation by asking “How was your first day Sweetie?”, Dory answered her with pie in her mouth “Oh it was good, got good teachers, this guy named Bede battled me after school”. Her mother looked surprised and said “Really? You’ve never really been the type to start battles, or to battle in the first place”, Dory swallows her food to respond “Oh he started the battle, got angry cause he thought I challenged him” “Well what did you say to him?” Her mom asked curiously, “Well he said he was adopted by Chairman Rose so I asked if he rigged it” Dory responded while taking a spoonful of her pie. Dory’s mom listened and responded to her in a strong tone “First, what did I tell you about eating with your mouth full?”, Dory swallowed down her food and answered “swallow first, then talk”, Dory’s mom continued “Second, that did sound a bit mean”, Dory would think on it a bit and then responds “I guess it did sound a bit mean, but I don’t think that warrants a full-on battle” she took some more of her food in, her mother would answer her “Well I think you should apologize to him tomorrow, who knows you and him can become friends”. Dory stopped eating at the mention of ‘Friends’, growing up she always had trouble getting along with other girls since her mom let her dress how she wanted, which was very tomboyish which made it hard to relate to other girls, and the only other person she could likely make a connection with, was her crush, Marnie. She’d get a little smile at the thought of getting a potential friend. Soon Dory helped her mom clean up after dinner and then did a little more reading up on cheerleading. Some of her Pokémon return to their Pokeballs to sleep, Mercury went to his corner and Elton rested on Dory’s bed. Dory grabbed an undershirt and boxers, brushed her teeth, and went straight to sleep, ending her first day, and planning out her future.


	2. But Her Friend Is Nowhere To Be Seen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dory finally makes a friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah I went back and edited the chapter to be like later Chapters. :3

It was around 6 AM, Dory was fast asleep when she felt something pulling on her tank top, she groggily woke up to Elton and Mercury tugging on her, looking worried. She shakily asked them “Elton? Mercury? What’s wrong guys?” She yawned and looked up to see her Morpeko squeezing through the window before escaping. Dory woke up and ran to the window to see how far Morpeko was running, which was not very far, she hastily grabbed her hoodie as she ran outside while talking to Elton and Mercury who were following close behind her “Why didn’t you guys try stopping him!?”, the two growl in response as Dory heads outside and starts chasing her Morpeko. The Morpeko looked back and ran faster as it saw Dory, as it ran it bumped into someone who turned around and picked them up, Dory panted heavily as she and her zigzagoons stopped in front of the person and said: “Thank you… so much… for helping…”  
She slowly looked up and saw the person was tall and pale, his hair was a combination of white and black with one large bang and a massive ponytail, he wore magenta and black shorts and a tank top, with a white jacket that seemed a bit small, he had a rough but calm voice as he said: “Don’ worry about it”. He’d give the morpeko a snack and tickle its belly, the Morpeko smiles and turns to its full belly form, Dory was amazed as she was handed her Morpeko,  
Dory said to him “Wow, I’ve never seen him so calm”  
the person chuckled “Well it looks like this little guy is similar to my sis’”  
At the mention of a sister, Dory immediately remembered who he was, she asked him for confirmation “You’re Piers right? The Spikemuth Gymleader”  
He responded “I am Piers”  
Dory extended a hand to him while saying “I’m Dory”.  
Dory knew Piers from him being the Spikemuth Gymleader since she was little, and from him being the older brother of Marnie. They shook hands and Piers continued “If you want I can ask my little Sis to help you out with that Morpeko”  
Dory became bright red before realizing her rotom phone was giving her a notification. She pulled her phone out of her Hoodie pocket and saw her mom was asking where she was, she sighs in a bit of relief and says to Piers “Sorry, my mum is worried, I’ll have to go home, hope we can talk again some other time”  
She begins backing away and waves while Piers responds to her “Alright, see you”, Dory texts her mom what happens as she walks back to her apartment.

As she and her Pokémon entered her home, her mother was awake and Lares was helping her make breakfast, she looked surprised as Dory entered with her Morpeko smiling and in Fully Belly form, she said to her “I’ve never seen Morpeko so happy”  
Dory tickled the same spot Piers did and were surprised to see it had the same effect, Dory happily tells her “Yeah, Piers caught him and calmed him down”  
Her mom got a little smirk and teased “Isn’t he the older brother of that girl you like?”  
Dory immediately became all red and hugged her Morpeko tighter making him hangry again. She could barely speak as she slid to her room, her Morpeko sliding out of her hold while saying “W-what do you mean, I-I don’t like a girl”  
her Mom sighs and walks up to her, putting her hands on Dory’s shoulders, she says to her in a calming tone “Dory, It’s fine if you like girls, I’ve known that you’re not like other girls, I let you dress in that hoodie you love, you only got interested in that one Waltey Movie when the main girl decided to join the army, I’m your mother Dory, you can tell my anything when you’re ready”  
her mother smiles at her and Dory smiles back and says “Thanks mum”  
her mom then ruffles her hair playfully and tells her, “Now go get ready for school and wash your feet before you put your socks on”, Dory was confused at first until she looked down and realized that in the rush of the moment she was barefooted while outside.

Dory took a quick bath to clean off, afterwards, she looked at her flattened mousy hair and then tied it into a ponytail while it dried. She got her uniform on and made breakfast, thanks to her early wake-up, she just had to pack her stuff and sit on the couch with her mom as they ate breakfast. Her mom turned on the tv and the news was playing, there was an Anti-Mega Evolution protest at Wyndom Stadium, Dory’s mom commented “Must be around the time they start establishing rules for the High School League”  
Dory then tried to tell her mom her plans “yeah… I’m actually hoping to be a cheerleader for the League”  
her mom gasped and smiled “Really! Oh Sweetie you’d make a great Cheerleader!”  
Dory smiled at her mom’s response and said “Thanks mum”  
there was a short pause that was broken when her mom said out of the blue “Does this have to do with that Marnie girl?”  
Dory became bright red in the cheeks and looked away embarrassed, making her mom giggle. Her mom soon leaves and Dory leaves a little after, she went to one of the stands that lined the streets of Spikemuth and bought a Dark Type Uniform, both female and male version as she wasn’t the biggest fan of crop tops but knew she would need one for the tryouts in late October. She went to school and breezed through the first period and homeroom.

When the period ended, she took a fast route between her homeroom and History class, when she entered the room she saw Bede already there with a few other students and the teacher. Dory sat beside him and said to him “Hey, sorry about yesterday, I guess it did sound a bit mean, the whole chairman rigging stuff”  
he looked surprised and responded, “Oh, I guess I forgive you”  
He then looked forward and Dory gave him a little annoyed look, she was waiting for an apology or an acknowledgment of the battle, he wouldn’t budge so she just tried making conversation by saying “so, Chairman Rose’s son, bet you’ve lived a rich life”  
Bede responded almost robotically, “He only adopted me last year”  
Dory felt embarrassed and responded sympathetically “Oh, so what was life like before him?”  
Bede would sigh and look at her annoyed and asked her “Why are you asking me all these questions?”  
Dory was confused and answered, “I’m just trying to start a conversation, I haven’t got many friends, and you’re kinda the first person to talk to me so, you’re kinda the closest thing I have to a friend”  
Bede still looked annoyed at her and responded “I don’t have time to waste on friends”  
before Dory could respond to him in any way, the teacher said “Quiet down, class is starting”, Dory wanted to talk with him more but would have to wait a while. When the class ended, Bede immediately packed up his stuff and left, before he went out the door,  
Dory said to him “Bye Bede!”, he didn’t look back or make any acknowledgment of her.

At Lunch, Dory sat alone after looking for Bede for a bit, she sat on a bench in the park. But then a girl walked towards her, she wore the same uniform as herself and had grey hair and grey eyes, her hair tied behind her with some form of hairband that had two long bits resembling long ears, she wore shoes that were from a fighting type uniform, she had a backpack on as she spoke to Dory in a bit of a monotone voice “Hi, I’m Bea”, her face seemed a bit indifferent, as though devoid of emotions.  
Dory responded to her with “I’m Dory”, the two stood in an awkward silence that seemed to last an hour, Dory breaks it by saying “is there a reason you’re here?”  
Bea awkwardly responds “Yeah, saw you were sitting alone and I was just wondering if I could sit with you”  
Dory moved over as she said, “Go ahead”  
Bea sat down beside her while saying “Thanks, my parents want me to train during lunch, but my stomach is killing me, anyways have you got anything?”  
Dory went through her bag and pulled her lunch out, and tells Bea “My mum made me a ham sandwich before she left for work, I can always split it” it was rare for Dory’s mom to be the one to make her lunch so this was a special case, the sandwich was already in half so she just gave half to Bea  
She responds as she gets it “Thanks, where does your mum work?”  
Dory casually responds while taking a bite of her sandwich, “Pokemon Center as a Nurse”  
Bea would stop and get a surprised look, then asks “Your Mom is Nurse Joy!? Is it true that it’s one Nurse Joy working every Pokémon center and teleporting between them?”  
Dory was confused and just answers “No, we just have a big family, my mum works at the Spikemuth Pokémon Center for a lot of the day” Dory took her phone out and showed Bea a picture of a dinner table with hundreds of women all with Pink hair and different dresses along with Dory and a woman with big mauve hair and pink glasses while continuing, “this is from our last Family Reunion”  
Bea studies the photo, looks to Dory, and asks “How do you tell them all apart, and why don’t you look like that?”  
Dory shrugs, “My mum says I get my blue eyes and face from her and my hair color and curliness from my dad, and that’s kinda all I know about him… and they all look different, my Aunt Joy is taller than my Auntie Joy, and my aunt Joy has more defined features than Auntie Joy, and-“  
“Okay I get it, so I guess only people in the family can tell each other apart”  
“it’s really not that hard”  
Bea studied the photo again, but then saw the time “I’ve got class!, I’ll see you around Dory!”, she quickly grabbed her bag and stood up  
Dory followed her and said “See you”  
as they walked they were going in the same direction. Dory turns to Bea and asks her “Where exactly are you going?”  
“The Arts building”  
Dory smiles “Me too! Guess we can walk together then”  
“I guess it does, what class have you got”  
at that moment Dory remembered her guitar was in her locker and groans “Music, I have to run to my locker, can I get your number?”  
“Oh of course” they quickly exchanged numbers and Dory began running to her locker while waving to Bea, It was when she was halfway through her class when she realized she just made her first friend.

When her gymnastics class came she was going to pay special attention to the class for her cheerleader training, she glanced over to the battling class when she arrived at the field and was happily surprised to see Bea was in the class, they locked eyes and waved to each other. After class, Dory went towards the field in the dark type uniform she bought, while she walked, she saw Bea on the field fighting against her Machop, she’d run over and giggled as she yelled out “Be! Aggressive! Bea Be Aggressive”  
Bea puts a hand up to signal for her Machoke to stop, she goes over and asks Dory “What was all that about”  
Dory nervously laughed and rubbed her arm “I’m trying out to be a Cheerleader”  
Bea got a surprised look, “You don’t seem like the type of person to try that” she said curiously  
Dory shyly responded “Well umm… there’s someone who’s going to try out for the Galar High School league and I wanted to.. to cheer them on…” as she spoke her face became redder and redder  
Bea got an understanding look and tells her “Don’t worry, I got it, so you’re out here to practice”  
Dory nods in response and lets out Pink in an attempt to change subjects, she says to Bea “Bea, this is my Sylveon, Pink”  
her Sylveon happily barks and Bea asks “You name your Pokémon…?”  
“Yeah, want to meet them?”  
“Sure,” Bea said as she shrugs.  
Dory grabs the other 5 Pokeballs and releases the rest, “The Hoenn Zigzagoon is Elton, the other is Mercury, my Spritzee is Starr, My Zorua is Lennon”  
“and your Morpeko?” Bea said pointing down to the hangry Morpeko at Dory’s boot  
Dory sighs and picks him up as she says “Just Morpeko, we don’t have the best relationship” she attempted to scratch Morpeko like Piers did in the morning, only for it to attempt biting her, making Dory jerk her hand away.  
Bea looked perplexed at them all as Dory sets her Morpeko down, Bea then said “I’ve never really named my Pokémon”  
“well maybe you should try” Dory responded while having her Pokémon return  
Bea looked at her, and then released 2 other Pokémon, a Sirfetch’d, and a Falinks. She looked at her team and points to Sirfetch’d while saying “Lancelot”, she points to the head Falinks and then moves down the line “Alex, Aaron, George, Laurens, Mulligan, Marquis”, she then points to her Machop “Shirley”, her Machop gave a thumbs up and Bea smiled at them. Dory was surprised to see Bea smile and enjoyed seeing it, it was warm and comforting which made Dory smile. The two work on either field, Dory cheers on Bea while Pink coaches her on it, at one point when Dory did a twirl, she looked back and saw Marnie coming her way looking at her phone, Dory’s foot slips and she falls to the ground, Bea stops for a moment and runs over yelling “Dory are you okay?”, but Dory didn’t hear her.

Bea looks in the direction Dory is looking and sees Marnie coming towards the field, Dory slid from her spot into the bushes, when Bea looked back, both she and Pink looked around to look for Dory. Dory hid in some far off bushes and watches as Marnie came over and started talking to Bea, she was unable to hear and just watched, her heart racing as they talked, _what could they be talking about? Do they know each other? Is Bea telling her about Dory?_ Bea motioned to Pink who was still looking for Dory, maybe they are talking about her, they stop talking and wave to each other as Marnie walks away. Dory watched her walk away, almost fainting as Marnie passed the bush she was hiding in, she waited for Marnie to go a good distance away to finally stand up, Bea and Pink ran over to her, Bea then asked “Why were you in that bush?” and Pink began barking  
Dory shakily responded to Bea “I-I was hiding”  
“From that Marnie girl? is she bullying you?” Bea got angry and was ready to go fight Marnie  
Dory got scared and went in front of Bea, hands up and shaking trying to make her stop, “No No No! She’s, she’s not, you see, the thing is umm”, Dory became red. 

She never told anyone but her Pokémon that she liked girls, and it’s been that way for years. She put her arms down, one hand moving to rub the opposite arm, Dory starts, “Well you see, I’m Lesbian, and I, I like her” she became red as she told her  
Bea gets a somewhat surprised look, she then says “I’m Bi” she smiled  
Dory smiled and giggled “Well we’re kinda the same then”  
“Yeah, that’s what friends are I guess, kinda the same”  
Dory almost teared up that Bea officially smiled and called her friend, she said: “Yeah, say, mind keeping the Marnie thing a secret?”  
“Don’t worry, you’re secret’s safe with me, keep the lesbian thing secret too?”  
“No that’s fine, I think I’m safe being open about it”, Dory had some newfound confidence. They resumed their training until Pink showed Dory the time, Dory hastily says while grabbing her stuff “Hey I gotta run, I have to change before the train gets here”  
Bea responds “Cool, see you around Dory”  
Dory smiles and rushes to the locker rooms, she changes and then runs to the train station, her and Pink getting aboard just in time.

When the two got home, her mom wasn’t home yet so Dory just put some leftovers to heat up. She changed into a crop top and leggings and laid down on her couch to go on Chirper, Pink went beside her and barked, wanting her to train more, Dory groaned and asked “What is it now Pink?”  
Pink barked and went to Dory’s room to grab one of her manga’s, “Koisuru chiarīdā”, and brought it back to Dory. She flips through a few pages, stopped at a page near the beginning with the main character at home, and pointed to a series of speech bubbles that read “素晴らしいチアリーダーになるために、私は一日中トレーニングしなければなりません” Dory looked at the page and says “You know I can’t understand that'', Pink rolled her eyes and grabbed Dory’s phone, “Right right, Porygoogle translate”, she took a picture of the page and translated it, “‘to be a great cheerleader I must train all hours of the day’, yeah Pink, I have gymnastics and after school with Bea, I’m all good with training for now”. Pink gets angry and begins barking like mad, “If you don’t stop, You’re going back in your Pokeball and you’ll have to wait until after dinner to watch the latest episode of Doki Doki love story” Pink got worried and rushed to Dory’s room, Dory chuckled and Dory let the rest of her team out.

They all had reheated dinner together and soon got ready for bed. While Dory was brushing, she heard the front door open followed by a pair of footsteps, she quickly finished and stepped out to see her mother and Lares, her mom collapsed laying on the couch, and Lares grabbing some of the reheated dinners Dory left. Her mom looked over and gave a half-smile as she saw Dory, she says “Hi Sweetie, sorry for having to get home so late”  
Dory responds “it’s fine mum I get it”  
“Yeah, I love the work but it's tiring”. Her mom stood up and walked towards Dory, she kissed her on the forehead and said “Good night sweetie”  
Dory smiled and said “Night mum”, she walked towards her room and her mom back to the couch. She was almost in the bed when she stopped and poked her head out the door, “Oh and Mum”  
her mom looked over “yes Sweetie?”  
“I’m lesbian”  
her mom smiled at her, she said “thanks for coming out sweetie, I’m always here to give dating advice, it was originally for boys but they may work for girls too” Dory giggled and went to bed.


	3. Sailors Fighting In The Dancehall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dory and Bea take on the first part of the Chatelaine Challenge together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Huge thanks to Lorekeepers for helping me with the format. Hopefully, it's easier to read and in the future, I can change the previous two chapters to be like this one. 
> 
> Also, this is my favorite Chapter so far :3.

Over the weeks, a routine would come about; Dory woke up, had breakfast with her Pokémon while her mom woke up late, and ran to work. Dory walked to school, grabbed lunch from her Aunt Joy in Hammerlocke, and went through her classes, admiring her love Marnie from afar, Marnie became a major motivation for her, her only motivation. Every day during History, she tried making conversation with Bede, and every day he just ignored her, she kept pressing him because she genuinely wanted another friend.

For Lunch, she sat down with Bea and shared lunch with her. As they talked, Bea got to know Dory well, but Dory had a little trouble getting through to some bits about Bea, she seldom mentioned her life at home or parents, she didn’t have many stories about them when they were little, and she hadn’t tried many things like music.  
After school, she and Bea would train in the fields, Bea battling against her own Pokémon and Dory practicing her cheerleading, getting better by the weeks, eventually getting a pair of Pom Poms in Spikemouth colors. 

When she got home, she made her dinner that she ate with her Pokémon and then went to sleep. Over weekends, she stayed home and just went on Chirper or trained some because Pink was pushing her too. 

There were some times when there’d be a little change in pace, sometimes Morpeko would make another escape attempt and Dory either had to pull him back or just chase him down the street until they bumped into Piers again who helped calm Morpeko down. After, they would talk a little but Dory left any time Marnie was mentioned by making some excuse, she felt she wasn’t ready to talk to Marnie,but still enjoyed chatting with Piers.

One Saturday, Dory was casually on Chirper when she got a text from Bea.  
“Hey Dory”  
Despite having each other’s numbers, they didn’t talk much outside of school. Dory was kinda a shy texter a lot of the time and Bea being kinda quiet.  
“Hey Bea” she responded.,  
Bea quickly responded  
“Mind helping me out with something”  
“Sure, what is it?”  
“You know the Chatelaine challenge?” 

The Chatelaine Challenge is a series of four battles against each of the Chatelaine sisters, four sisters from the Kalos Battle Maison. The sisters all go to one region, each sister will stay in one town in that region and challengers must find them based on a single clue they are given. 

Dory responded to Bea.  
“Yeah, are you planning on doing it?”  
Bea responded in a heartbeat.  
“Yeah! Want to help me out?”  
Dory was excited she’d get to spend some more time with Bea.  
“Sure, are we meeting up?”  
“Yeah, I’ll send you my address”  
Dory hastily put her hoodie and boots on before looking at the address, Bea lived in Stow-On-Side. Dory quickly texted her mom, ‘Going out with a friend’, she grabbed three Pokeballs, ran outside, and called a Flying Taxi.

The Flying Taxi soon came, and she was luckily the only person aboard, but she was unlucky the taxi pilot was very talkative. He talked kinda fast as he spoke;  
“So you’re headed to Stow-On-Side? That’s nice, you know I have a cousin who used to live in Stow-On-Side, he actually moved to Unova a year ago, but then he moved to Sinnoh with my uncle and neighbor David-“  
He rambled on and on and on the entire trip while Dory just looked outside. 

They landed in Hammerlocke to pick up someone else, Dory didn’t mind much, until she saw Marnie was now sitting opposite of her. She became bright red and tried to keep her gaze on the window to hide her anxiety,  
_What’s she doing here? Does she see me? Does she even care I’m here? Should I talk to her? Should I try holding her hand? Does she even like girls? Should I just say “hi”?_  
Her mind came up with a novel of ‘what if’’s, ‘should’’s, and ‘Does’’s, as she was so close to Marnie, she looked out the window all the while, until she heard Marnie’s voice,  
“Hey”.  
Her mind completely stopped and she froze. She looked at Marnie for what felt to her like a thousand years, lost in her eyes and calm demeanor - her mind pushed her to respond.  
“Hi” her voice cracked.  
Marnie looked back at the window, Dory did the same, only her mind was now writing a best-selling series of ‘Why’’s, ‘What if’’s, and ‘Should’’s, the series only continuing as an awkward silence accompanied both of them, Marnie completely silent.  
When the Taxi finally stopped in Stow-On-Side, Dory got out of the Taxi, and as the door closed, she heard Marnie again;  
“Bye”  
Dory looked back and shyly waved as Marnie closed the door and the Taxi started flying away.

Dory was still a little red as she walked to the house Bea sent the address of, the house looked like the other houses in Stow-On-Side, box-shaped with a few windows. Dory went to the front door and knocked. Bea came down and answered excitedly, she wore part of a training uniform, it included a pair of shorts in white and orange, and an undershirt.  
“Hey Dory!” she said.  
Dory smiled.  
“Hey Bea! So what did you need?”  
“Come inside and I’ll fill you in, oh and take your boots off at the door.”  
Dory stepped inside and got her boots off, the main room was all one room with the kitchen and living room connected. The shelves of the room were lined with 1st place trophies and pictures of Bea winning competitions at various ages. 

“My parents are out, so we should try to leave before they get back.” Bea said while going up some stairs.  
“Why?” Dory asked.  
Bea responded “Well they kinda don’t want me to have friends.” She sounded a little sad as she admitted it and continued. “They want me to focus everything on improving and training”  
Dory followed Bea upstairs, “Oh… sorry to hear that”  
“Oh don’t worry I do like battling, but I could use a friend or two”. 

They went upstairs and entered Bea’s room; it had a small balcony looking out at the street and the usual bedroom amenities: a bed, a closet, cupboards, and a desk. There were some more trophies and some motivational posters around, as well as a small rack full of weights.  
Dory asked, “So why did you need me? I’m not the best when it comes to battling”  
“I need help with this” Bea handed Dory an unfolded letter, it had the Chatelaine family stamp and Bea’s address on one side. The other side had a short sentence on the middle of the page:

“Where is the only Hurricane in Galar?”

Bea explained;  
“I need help with the riddles”  
“Really?” Dory asked.  
Bea responded “Yeah, and because it could be one of those friend activity things, besides the Chatelaine Challenge is more for fun, whaddya say?”  
Dory smiled “Let’s go, so Galar never gets hurricanes.”, She examined the letter.  
“And ‘hurricane’ is capitalized so it’s a name.” Bea added.  
“Do you know anything named Hurricane?” 

The two paced around the room for a few minutes, trying to think of anytime a hurricane was mentioned in Galar, but then Dory remembered. 

“The Galar Hurricane! The Ferris wheel in Wyndon, my mom took me there when I was little.”  
Bea got a confident look “Off to Wyndon then!”  
“Wish I brought my cheerleader outfit” Dory giggled.

They both rushed to the front door, as they ran, Dory asked a question;  
“So what's the path?”  
Bea responded while putting a crop top that matched her shorts on.  
“Run through route 6 to Hammerlocke, take a train to Wyndon.” Bea said as she got it on and ran out.  
Dory was a little behind as she had to put her boots on, Bea looked back, she’d already run a block away - and decided to run back.  
“Sorry, I’ve never exactly had to run with someone before, how about we just take a flying Taxi?” she said.  
Dory responded;  
“Oh don’t worry-“  
“No, you don’t Worry” Bea interrupted “The challenge isn’t timed or anything, we can just take a taxi.”  
Dory smiled and said “Great, then how about we stop by my place to grab my uniform and some lunch?”  
Bea answered “Sure”.

Bea called the taxi which soon came, and as they flew over, Dory called her Cousin, Wendy, who was in Wyndon to ask if she could make a quick lunch for them. Her cousin was one of the younger Nurse Joy’s working in Galar and didn’t have as long shifts, and she was also great at cooking and baking - often having some of her baked good sold at the cafe next to the main desk.  
Dory got off the phone and spoke to Bea;  
“Okay my Cousin Wendy will make us some nice egg and sausage sandwiches and some cupcakes”  
Bea looked at Dory excitedly “Cupcakes! How good are they?” Bea asked, Dory was a bit confused by her sudden excitement  
“Well, they’re really good! She gets the ingredients from a farmers market in Turffield which just makes them taste even better.”  
Bea smiled and imagined tasting it.  
“I can’t wait”  
“You have a sweet tooth huh?”  
“Yeah, probably all my teeth”  
They both laughed as they got to the entrance to Spikemuth. 

When they touch down, Dory asked the pilot to wait for a minute or two if possible. As they walked into town, Bea felt a bit suspicious of the area.  
“Why are we in Spikemuth? This place probably has the most suspicious people in Galar...” she asked.  
Dory got an annoyed look and answered.  
“Watch your mouth, I’m from Spikemuth!”  
Bea got a half worried, half apologetic look and Dory continued  
“It only looks suspicious, a lot of the people here are actually pretty cool!”  
Dory got a little red as Marnie was more than just ‘Pretty cool’  
“Oh, sorry, just with all the light signs and streets and stuff it can look pretty intimidating” Bea said.

As they walked, the market was a little more active, sellers would call out from their booths as they tried to make a sale.  
Bea asked “You sure this place is fine?”  
Dory answered “Yeah, it usually gets like this on Saturdays.” 

They soon reached Dory’s building and went up to her apartment. Bea looked around, Dory then spoke;  
“You can be barefoot here, my mum is at work”  
Bea looked around the small apartment as Dory went to her room and changed into her uniform. 

It was her first time cheerleading ‘publicly’, so she knew she had to wear her crop top. When she wore it, she looked at herself in the mirror, she didn’t really have body issues and was skinny, but she never felt comfortable in outfits like crop tops and shorts with no leggings. But, she could manage it now, as she still had the uniform’s leggings and it was at least in colors she liked.  
She put on her hoodie and headed out the door, Bea was still looking around.  
“Okay, I’m ready!” Dory said.  
Bea got excited;  
“Great! Race you down!”  
Bea opened the front door and sprinted out, Dory giggled as she closed the door behind her before following. 

Bea got to the taxi first (of course) with Dory panting behind her. They got inside so Dory could catch her breath, Bea then spoke;  
“Still can’t believe you live in Spikemuth.”  
Dory responded, annoyed again.  
“I told you my Mum worked there!”  
“I figured she had to commute or something.”  
“Well I can’t believe you don’t wear shoes outside!”  
Bea responded in a heartbeat;  
“They’re uncomfortable for me, I’m used to just not wearing them!”  
“Not even socks?”  
“No, well, sometimes; but I only wear shoes and stuff for school.”  
Dory sighed and leaned back  
“I feel you, skirts aren’t my thing, but I can manage.”

When they got to the Pokémon Center, Dory ran to the counter and hugged her cousin.  
“Hi Wendy!” she said.  
Her cousin hugged her back, and happily responded  
“Hi Dory!”  
Bea came over to the counter.  
“Hi, I'm Bea, Dory’s friend” she said, while silently holding back her hunger for the promised cupcakes.  
Her Cousin shook Bea’s hand.  
“Nice to meet you Bea, great to hear Dory has a friend”  
Dory chimed in.  
“Yeah! And we’re doing the Chatelaine Challenge together”  
Wendy smiled  
“Oh that’s fantastic! Oh, here’s your lunch!”  
She handed Dory two boxes, Bea’s mouth began to water just from smelling the cupcakes from outside, and Dory smiled.  
“Thanks Wendy! See you around”  
“See you Dory and Bea” Wendy replied.  
Bea only waved as she and Dory left.

They sat on a bench, and Dory opened one box that had the sandwiches - while Bea was quick to open the other to take a bite of a cupcake. As she ate it, she smiled and her eyes lit up.  
“This is so good!” she said while still eating.  
Dory giggled, ate her sandwich, and replied;  
“Yeah, my cousin is a real baker!”  
“Then why is she at the Pokémon center and not blessing the world with these cupcakes?” Bea asked while grabbing her sandwich to quickly eat.  
Dory answered “Well most people in my family have an interest in medicine”  
“And you don’t?”  
“Not really, I’m more interested in music”.  
Bea swallowed her food and asked another question.  
“Is it hard for you? Being the only one who isn’t a doctor in your family?”  
Dory slowed down a little and smiled.  
“Sometimes, but my mom kinda lets me just be”  
Bea looked to Dory, and then looked away. she mumbled to herself solemnly;  
“Wish my mom was like that”.

Once they finished eating, they made their way to the Galar Hurricane. The Ferris wheel was under maintenance as they arrived, Bea just looked around.  
“Just look around for some girl with yellow hair and some kinda yellow outfit.” she said.

Dory looked around, and soon enough, she saw the girl they were looking for. She wore a yellow puffy dress, with a purse nearby, and was happily on her yellow rotom phone.  
Dory tugged on Bea’s arm,  
“Is that the first sister?” she said while pointing to the girl.  
Bea smirked and answered.  
“Yep.” 

The two walked over to the girl and the girl looked at them, she smiled and spoke in a peppy voice.  
“Hi! I’m Nita!”  
Bea responded;  
“I know”  
She took out the letter, and Nita jumped up.  
“Well congrats Bea! You found me, you know how this works.”  
She happily threw a Pokeball out of her bag and released a Blitzle, while skipping towards an open area. Bea followed, and Dory took her Hoodie off while pulling out her pom-poms.  
But before she could follow them, Pink came out of her Pokeball and pulled Dory back with her feelers. 

“What the hell Pink!” Dory yelled.  
Pink used her feelers to tie Dory’s hair into a ponytail. When she was set free, Dory gave Pink an annoyed look and yelled.  
“You could’ve just asked!”  
Pink gave an annoyed look and they both walked to one side of the field. 

Pink sat besides Dory to coach her while her other two Pokémon, Lennon and Starr, came out to watch the battle.  
Bea took out Lancelot and Nita shouted.  
“Charge, Blitzy!”  
Blitzle neighed and began rushing at Lancelot, who used his leak shield to lessen the blow.  
“First Impression, Lancelot!” Bea called out.  
Lancelot’s sword glowed and he rushed forward, striking the Blitzle. 

Nita yelled “Thunderwave!”

Suddenly, Blitzle released a wave that stopped Lancelot. 

A crowd began to form, and Dory yelled while shaking her Pom Poms and Cheering.  
“Come On Bea! Be Aggressive! Bea Be Aggressive!”  
Pink barked at her, and Dory got annoyed and looked at Pink angrily, and yelled.  
“Is this a good time to be critiquing my cheering!?”  
Pink barked back angrily.  
“Then, let’s see you try!”  
Dory handed her Pom poms to Pink, who held them with her feelers and began happily barking and performing flips in beautiful succession. She then used Dazzling Gleam in the air, the crowd clapped, and Nita chuckled as Blitzle dodged an attack from Lancelot.  
“I ought to teach my eeveelution to cheer like that! Flame Charge, Blitzy” she said.  
Her Blitzle then rushed in and knocked out Lancelot. Bea groaned as she returned him, and released Falinks.

Dory groaned and crossed her arms.  
“Alright you’re good, but you’re my trainer of course you’re good!” she admitted to Pink.  
Pink gave a smirk, and gave the Pom Poms to Starr who started throwing them in the air and juggling them mid-air, using a fairy wind at times for some extra flair.  
Dory was annoyed, but then got an idea.

Bea’s Falinks put up a tougher fight, as it used a No Retreat Powered Megahorn that finally fainted Blitzle. Nita flipped her hair and looked away.  
“Hmph, that’s only one out of three, TikTik, use Electroweb”  
She threw a Pokeball and it released a Joltik, the Joltik released a web, and Bea yelled out.  
“Dodge it guys!”  
Her pokemon did so. Once they did, Dory Cheered:  
“Falinks are Free, come on you can do it Bea! Bea… Aggressive!”  
As she held on ‘Bea’, Pink jumped onto her shoulders and used Dazzling Gleam upwards. Starr flew on Pink’s head and used a Fairy Wind in the same direction creating a beautiful breeze of sparkles and light. The crowd cheered and Bea smiled at Dory.  
“Alright Falinks, Close Combat!” she commanded.  
The Falinks separate and each of them then ram their spiked head into Joltik rapidly, with Alex (The Brass) giving the final blow. 

Nita got annoyed and yelled.  
“That’s Not Fair! You have a cheerleader to boost your confidence! Thunderwave them, Tik Tik!”  
“Another Close Combat Guys!”

As Tiktik ran forwards, the Falinks rushed and hit it all at once again, knocking it out. Nita stamped her foot and yelled.  
“Oh Come On! Jolty! Right in with a Thunder Shock!”  
She took out a Jolteon who immediately released a bolt of lightning that hit Falinks and paralyzed it. Bea returns Falinks and then releases Shirley shouting:  
“Let’s Go Shirley!”  
Dory began to cheer;  
“Come on Shirley! Come on Shirley, You can beat them Surely!”  
Pink and Starr gave an annoyed look, Dory looked at them and huffed.  
“Rhyming is hard, okay!”

“Another Thunder Shock!” Nita announced.  
Bea immediately commanded her pokemon.  
“Low Kick, Shirley!”  
As the Jolteon attacked, Shirley slid and kicked his legs, tripping them over.  
Bea immediately yelled out;  
“Dual Chop from below!”  
Shirley slid under Jolteon and chopped them from underneath, jettisoning him into the air.  
“Thunderwave!” Nita yelled, but before they could do anything, Shirley predicted Bea’s next command, jumped up and used Vital Throw to slam the Jolteon back to the ground, creating a dust cloud. 

When the dust settled, Jolteon fainted, and Shirley stood triumphant. Dory began cheering and waving her pom-poms, her Pokémon and then the crowd joining.  
Nita returned her Jolteon, and she and Bea met in the middle. Nita reluctantly shook her hand and spoke.  
“Alright, good game, hand me the letter you got.”  
Bea gave it to her and Nita continues;  
“You’ll be sent this back when my sister Evelyn comes over”  
“Alright then, good battle” Bea says.  
They walk off and Bea rejoins Dory and her Pokémon.

They all sat down so Bea could heal her team, and Dory smiled and spoke.  
“Congrats on winning Bea! That’s one sister down, 3 to go right?” 

“Yeah, and that was some really good cheering back there, but can you do anything other than ‘Bea Aggressive’?” Bea replied with a giggle.  
Dory shyly chuckles, and hit Bea with her elbow.  
“Shut up, rhyming on the spot is hard” the two laughed, and Bea continued.  
“Yeah, that performance was like something out of a contest spectacular”  
Dory smiled.  
“Thanks, but my only real issue is this outfit...”, she replied while motioning to the crop top and exposed stomach.  
Bea became a little embarrassed and asked;  
“Why? it looks good.”  
“Yeah, but I don’t know, I don’t really like exposing myself regularly, and I don’t really like girly stuff” Dory answered.  
Bea replied to her;  
“Why, cause you’re kinda flat?”  
Dory blushed and started laughing while trying to push Bea  
“Where did that come from!?”  
“Sorry I was just teasing”  
The two laughed with each other. Soon enough, they took a flying Taxi back to Spikemuth.

“Hey Dory, mind if I sleepover?” Bea asked Dory.  
Dory answered;  
“Sure, why?”  
Bea leaned back in her seat, and replied “No reason why”, when in reality she had two reasons.

When they got back to Dory’s place, her mom and Lares were home.  
Her mom looked from her kitchen to the two.  
“Hi Dory, who’s this?” she said, walking over to them. Dory answered:  
“This is my best friend Bea”  
Bea chimed in.  
“Hi Mrs. Joy”  
Dory’s mom giggled and shook Bea’s hand.  
“Oh, you can just call me Nurse Joy, or just Stephanie.”  
“Well nice to meet you Nurse Joy” Bea responded.  
“Is it okay if she sleeps over?” Dory asked her mom. Her mom happily responded;  
“Of course she can stay! Let me set up a sleeping bag for you! Lares, can you finish up dinner?”  
Lares nods and took over in the kitchen, and Bea smiled  
“Thanks Nurse Joy, and thanks, Lares.”  
Lares smiled at Bea. 

Dory took Bea by the hand and took her into her room.  
“You’ve gotta see my room!” she says.

Bea is surprised as she’s lead, and once inside, Dory releases all her Pokémon and leads Bea to Mercury’s bed.  
“This is where Mercury sleeps, he used to sleep with me on my bed, but he started scratching in his sleep” she tells her.  
Bea thought about that and winced.  
“Ouch…”  
“Yeah...” 

She then pulled Bea to her closet.  
“This is where Pink usually watches Anime and reads her Manga”  
“Oh really?” Bea asked.  
Pink confidently barked and pulled open a drawer to reveal her Manga collection.  
Bea continued and reached for one.  
“Oh cool, mind if I?”  
Pink growled, and Bea jerked her hand away while Dory giggled, telling Bea:  
“Yeah, Pink is protective of her Manga”.  
Dory let go of Bea’s hand and jumped onto her bed, a few plush toys bouncing.  
“And this is my bed, and that’s basically my room!” she said.  
Bea replied to her while sitting beside her.  
“Cool, so what do girls do in a sleepover?”  
Dory shrugs.  
“I dunno, I don’t really care what other girls do”  
Bea chuckles and lays down beside her  
“Cool…”

Bea looked around the room and looks at one of Dory’s Posters, then asks:  
“The Orbeatles?”  
Dory sits up.  
“Yeah! I’m a huge fan!”  
Bea rubs her arm.  
“I haven't listened to them.”  
Dory gasps.  
“But they’re legends! Do you have any music in your house!?!”  
Bea shyly responds;  
“Not really.” 

Dory held Bea by the sides of her arms and pulled her to sit up.  
“You have to listen to them right now!”  
Bea only nodded and Dory smiled; she quickly pulled out her laptop, the rotom from her phone leaped out and entered the Laptop, making it turn on. Dory opened a drawer under her bed and revealed a large collection of albums. Bea admired the collection but asked  
“Why don’t you just get the digital versions?”  
Dory looks through some albums.  
“I prefer the Authentic feeling, but my mom says we can’t buy a record player and records so I just use CDs... Here it is!”  
She pulled out an album, and the cover had a colorful array of people standing around four men in brightly colored marching uniforms, they stood over a drum and flower bed. The flowers spelled out “Orbeatles” and the Drum had the Album name: “Sgt. Pelipper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”.

She took out the CD and put it in a slot on the side of the computer, she did some typing and the first song started. A crowd cheered and the opening guitar started.  
Bea sat cross-legged and watched the laptop with Dory, loving the song. She’d look at Dory who had a geeky smile,  
The singer then started:  
“It Was Thirty Years Ago Today! Sgt, Pelipper Taught the Band to Play!”  
As the lyrics started, Dory began mouthing the words of the song. Bea giggled and asked:  
“Can I hear you do the song?”  
Dory giggled and blushed, embarrassed. Bea smiled and softly punched her arm.  
“Come on! When we met you mentioned a music class, can I at least get a snippet?”  
Dory giggled as she replied;  
“No no, I’m not the best when it comes to this song”  
Bea smirks and pauses the song  
“Well what’s something you are good at?”  
She opened the drawer and pulled out a random Album.  
It had four men on it, the same band, The Orbeatles, and the words “I Wanna Hold Your Hand” written on it.  
Dory becomes bright red and shyly spoke.  
“That’s one of my favorite songs”  
Bea smiles and looks at Dory's guitar resting against her bedpost.  
“Mind playing it?”

Dory shyly picked up her guitar and began playing a much slower version of the actual song, soon singing the first lines;  
“Oh yeah, I'll tell you somethin', I think you'll understand”  
As she sang, Bea smiled and listened.  
Dory closed her eyes as she reached the chorus.  
“I wanna hold your hand, I wanna hold your hand”  
Dory had a special aura as she sang, because the song was for Marnie. She wanted to have every word of the song with her, she had a deep connection to the song that gave her energy.  
Bea was amazed by Dory’s soft yet passionate voice, and as the song came to an end, Dory’s eyes were still closed - still in the fantasy of romance the song had her in until she heard clapping from behind her. Her eyes shot open and she turned around to see her mother clapping in the doorway, Dory became bright red and pulled her hood up. Her mom giggled and spoke.  
“It’s been a while since I’ve heard you sing Sweetie, nice to know you still have the voice of a shy angel, so was that song for her?”  
“She just asked me to play it, we’re just friends mom!” Dory shyly said under her hood.  
Bea giggled and Dory’s mom just patted her daughters head.  
“Well just be sure to tell me if that song is for a certain girlfriend”  
Dory just yelled in an annoyed tone.  
“Mom!”  
Her mom had a final giggle.  
“Okay, sorry, dinner’s ready for whenever you two want to come eat.” she said before leaving the room.  
Dory groaned as she put her guitar down, Bea sat beside her.  
“Your mom’s right, you do have a nice voice, and you are a shy angel” she giggled. Dory just softly pushed her.

They soon had dinner with Dory’s mom; Lares set out some food for Dory’s Pokemon.  
Her mom then asked Bea a question.  
“Why don’t you let your Pokémon out to eat sweetie?”  
“Oh, sure.” Bea replied.

She let out her Falinks, Sirfetch’d, and Machop, and Lares set out three extra bowls. Bea watched him and spoke.  
“Must be pretty handy to have an Indeedee working here.”  
Dory’s mom replied;  
“Yeah, he certainly helps cooking and organizing the mornings.”  
Lares smiled and all the Pokémon went to eat.  
“So what’s it like working at a Pokémon Center?” Bea asked.  
“Well, I work long hours, but at least it pays great and I get to help sick Pokemon.” Nurse Joy tells her.  
“Sounds nice”  
“Yeah, I bet there are hundreds of girls who’d just love to work there” she said, slowly looking at Dory with a smile.  
Dory giggled, and with her mouth half full,  
“Still not going to be a nurse mom”  
Her mom giggled and motioned for Dory to Swallow.

Soon it would be late and they’d all be getting ready for bed, while Dory and her mom set up a blanket and pillows to serve as Bea’s bed. Bea was out talking to her parents, she had to tell them she would be doing some late-night training and they believed her.  
When she went back into the house, Dory and her mom were both in the bathroom getting ready for bed.  
Bea walked to Dory’s room and lay down in the makeshift bed Dory made, she looked around the room and saw a few of Dory’s Pokémon asleep. Soon Dory came in and lay in her bed, she whispered to Bea  
“If you get too cold or uncomfortable, you can borrow a hoodie from my closet”  
Bea smiled and whispered back.  
“Thanks”  
Dory smiled back and lay down, Elton going on top of her stomach. Bea’s Pokémon would find a nice spot and sleep in the same room as the rest.

Late in the night, Bea shakily woke up and grabbed one of Dory’s hoodies and put it on. It was incredibly warm and comfortable, it being Dory’s somehow made it much warmer for her. Dory felt a similar warmth, knowing that she had a friend sharing her room.


	4. Oh, Man, Wonder If He'll Ever Know

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dory and Bede work on a group project.

During History, the class was talking about the Kalos War, and the teacher uttered a sentence the students hated, “We will be doing a group project on the war, and a presentation”. all the students, including Dory and Bede, groaned, the teacher continued “You will be in groups of two, partnered with the person next to you”. Everyone immediately looked next to them and Dory smiled as she realized she’d be working with Bede, Bede looked annoyed. They would each get a small piece of paper that said the side each group would work with, Bede and Dory getting the Kalos army. 

When the class ended, Bede left as he usually did, but Dory didn’t pack and merely held all of her books to catch up to Bede, Dory said to him while walking “Hold on their Bede, you can’t just leave, we need to plan times to meet up and junk, it’s due in a week”. Bede groaned and said “Just tell me what you want me to do so we can work separately and get it over with”

Dory giggled and stopped him, “slow down there Mr grump”, she became a little more commanding, “We are supposed to be partners in this project”. Bede groaned, he caved in and asked “Fine, so where are we meeting?”   
“After school, meet up at the battling fields, take your time to come” Dory said and began walking to her next class.

After school, Dory and Bea changed in the locker room before heading out to the field, Dory asked “What things rhyme with Shirley?”  
Bea thinks a little and answers “burly, curly, early….Blurry”  
“Maybe I can use that”  
“Use it for what?” Bea asked curiously.   
Dory smiled and took out a spiral notebook from her bag and handed it to Bea, she opened it and saw various words and what looked like couplets, all of which involved her or one of her Pokemon, Dory explained “I’ve been writing some ideas for cheers I can use”.  
Bea went to the next page and giggled seeing Marnie and her Pokémon’s names scribbled in along with some rhymes, she asked out loud “She’s ‘The Spikemuth Cutie?’”   
Dory became bright and grabbed the book again, “Not so loud!” She said embarrassed.  
Bea giggled “It’s hard not to when it’s the only cheer completed”  
Dory quickly yelled, “There aren’t many things that rhyme with Morgrem or Morpeko!”. Bea laughed, “Be lucky ‘Marnie’ and ‘Cutie’ rhyme” she said and Dory quickly pulled her hood on while blushing.

When they finally went out to the field, they were surprised to see Bede waiting there, they walked over and Dory said “Hey Bede, what’re you doing here?”.  
Bede replied a little annoyed “You said to meet here after school right?”   
“I guess I did but I didn’t expect for you to come so fast, I was going to practice while my friend Bea here trains”.   
Bede scoffed “She’s not going for the Galarian Tournament is she?”  
Bea got annoyed and walked towards him “It just so happens I am”  
Bede kept his confident demeanor as he boasts “Well you’ll need it if you’re going to compete with me, my father, Chairman Rose, has been able to get me the best personal trainers and specially picked my team”  
“It’s a three-person team rich boy”  
Bede scoffs and gets an annoyed look, “Well sometimes I wish I didn’t need a team so I don’t have to worry about having some delinquent like you on the team”  
Bea got angry and was ready to throw hands, “Who are you calling delinquent?”. Dory came between them and said, “Okay let’s all calm down, how about me and Bede go ahead, we have a project to work on”.  
Bea crossed her arms and kept her now angry demeanor “Fine, see you tomorrow Dory” she went to the fields while Bede and Dory left. 

Bede started, “Chairman Rose told me he had a meeting and wasn’t to be bothered, so where’s your place?”  
Dory replied “Spikemuth”  
Bede groaned “Spikemuth, you mean that hell hole that makes a basement at night more cheery?”.  
Dory got an annoyed look and said “Yes, and it’s not that bad”.  
“Well I was only going to go there for the Challenge in the summer, let me call the company Air Taxi to bring us to your place”, Bede took his phone out and made a call. The taxi didn’t look any different from others, but the Corviknight flying was a shiny one, Dory reluctantly got in it, when it flew she said: “I prefer walking to school, It feels more authentic and calm, also because I have to stop by a Pokemon center to get my lunch”.  
“Don’t tell me you eat the trubbish dung they serve at the café’s” Bede asked.  
Dory became annoyed again and said, “No, my Aunt works there and she gives me lunch”.  
“Even worse”.  
Dory got angry, “You mean you eat the ‘trubbish dung’ at school?”  
Bede answered, “First of all, use your own insults, second of all, Chairman Rose has his personal chef make my lunches”.  
Dory got a little sympathetic, “So he gets you a personal trainer and a personal chef, does he ever just spend time with you?”  
“Either I’m busy training or he’s busy with work”  
“Why don’t you not train when he’s free?”.  
Bede fell silent for a little and then said solemnly “he saved me as a child, so now he deserves a victorious son”  
“But doesn’t he also deserve a son to spend time with?” Dory added.  
“I’d rather be a son who is victorious and alone than a son who is a failure and spends all his time with other people who intrude on his personal life” he slowly became angrier after _‘failure’._ Dory was quiet after that, they soon arrived outside Spikemuth, as they exit, the pilot hands Bede a Magenta coat that he immediately puts on.

As they walked through the street, Bede looked at everyone around him suspiciously, but Dory was comfortable with the town and just walked along. When they finally entered Dory’s Apartment, Bede looked around almost amazed, he said “wow, it’s so small” Dory got an annoyed look, and Bede chuckles, he confidently continued “look at you, telling me I need to spend time with the Chairman, where are your parents?”.  
Dory comfortably responded as she walked to her room, “My mom is a nurse who works long hours, wait out here while I change”, she entered her room and quickly put on some more comfortable clothes and her hoodie. When she came back outside, Bede was looking over some family pictures by the TV, there were pictures of Dory and her mom’s trip to Jalisco the previous Thanksgiving, and a picture of just Dory and her mom on Christmas when Dory was little, she would walk over and ask “Bede?”.  
Bede got scared, looked at her, “Alright let’s start organizing the work” he said and entered her room.

He looked around, Dory let her Pokémon out and they all went to do their things, Bede freely looked around, even opening Pink’s Closet in the middle of her anime. Dory rushed in and closed it for him, “I can see why you’re not much of a battler” he said.  
Dory crossed her arms “What? Because I let my Pokémon relax?”.  
“Yes,” he continued “what’s the purpose of it?”.  
Dory became furious “To connect with my Pokémon! They aren’t just some tools you have to go out and catch! They’re like family to me, before I came out to other people, I came out to them, and I trust them, and they trust me!” Her Pokemon would look at her and Elton nuzzles against her leg to calm her down and as a way of thanking her.   
Bede scoffed and said “Well I’m not here to debate, I’m here to do work, now let’s start”, Dory rolled her eyes and sat on her bed, getting her laptop on while Bede used his own. They read up on the Kalos side, the weapons they used, the pokemon they used as tools (Dory whispering “sound like someone?” under her voice), what they believed, and how they joined the war, they decided Dory would present about their use of Pokémon and beliefs while Bede would present how they joined the war and major battles they won. At one point while working, he asked “I honestly don’t see why we need a whole section about how they treated Pokemon”  
Dory groaned and answered, “Because the treatment and relationships between trainer and Pokemon are important”.  
Bede scoffed (making Dory roll her eyes) “My Pokemon don’t need a good connection to be powerful”,  
Dory got angry and had an idea “Oh yeah? Prove it”.  
Bede smirks, “How So?”  
Dory answers with the same confidence “A battle between you, and my friend Bea who has a connection with her Pokemon”,  
“It’s a deal!”, Bede extended a hand while Dory asked, “What are the stakes?”.  
Bede groaned and kept his hand up “I don’t care, you decide them”.  
Dory smirked as she decided on some stakes, “If you win, I’ll have to make you a cheer routine”  
Bede interrupted her by asking “You’re a cheerleader?”  
“Not yet but I am working on it, if Bea wins, you have to wear a skirt around school for a day” she then immediately shook his hand.  
“I can’t wear a skirt! I’m supposed to be presentable, not look like the cover of some magazine!” He said annoyed.  
Dory chuckled and said, “Sorry, we shook on it, it’s official”. Bede would leave sometime later before her mom got home, ready to train more.

Dory told Bea about the contest during lunch and Bea was excited to pulverize the twerp. They eventually meet up after school, Bede and Bea stand in their opposite spots, Dory decided not to cheer for this one to make it a little more fair, Bea throws first and releases Lancelot, Bede releases his Hattrem and confidently boasts, “Do you know anything about type matchups, a pure fighting against a-“.  
Before he could finish, Bea interrupted by yelling “First Impression Lancelot!”, And Lancelot rushed forward and attacked Hattrem, it’s super effective with the move being a bug type move.  
Bede got annoyed and yelled, “I WASN’T DONE! PSYBEAM HATTREM!”, Hattrem fires a beam of energy that Lancelot was quick to dodge and Bea commands, “Brick Break!” Lancelot attacks and while attacking.  
Bede yells “NOW! PSYBEAM!” The Hattrem attacks with a laser that Hits Lancelot and severely weakens him.  
“One Last Brick Break Lancelot!” Bea yelled and he attacked again, Bede commanded with a smug face, “Dazzling Gleam!” The Hattrem releases a beam of light that knocks out Lancelot.  
Bea placed a hand on Lancelot’s head and said while returning him “Good job Lance”.  
Bede chuckled and said, “Someone upset they’re losing?”  
Bea responded while taking her next Pokémon out, “Yeah, you, Megahorn Falinks!” When Falinks came out, they immediately rammed into Hattrem, hitting her and getting her weak  
Bede got angry and yelled, “Psybeam again!” She releases a beam, but Falinks dodged, it rushed to use Throat Chop without Bea’s command, and knocked out Hattrem.   
Bede got angry and yelled, “HOW DID IT DO THAT!?!”  
Bea chuckles and says “Falinks gets my battle style, they can guess what I’ll try”, Falinks smiles at Bea. Bede groaned and reluctantly released a Cufant, Bea threw him a bone and commanded, “No Retreat Falinks”, the Falinks stood their ground Bede smirked as he commanded “Zen Headbutt!”  
Bea was quick to act as the Cufant rushed forward and yelled “Close Combat!” The Falinks form a circle and as Cufant hits them, they all ram into it, knocking it out. Bede got angry, but then got a confident smirk as he brought out a metagross, surprising Bea, Falinks, and Dory, Dory yelled “HOW DID YOU GET THAT THING!”  
Bede confidently answered, “Chairman Rose gave me my team, Psycho Cut!”  
Bea was quick to act, “Hit Em with a Throat Chop!” The Falinks tried sliding under Metagross and hitting it from below, they landed a hit but also got hit by the Psycho cut, getting knocked out.  
Bea sighed as she returned Falinks, she got her serious expression, she took a Pokeball out and said to it: “I believe in you Shirley”, she threw her Pokeball and released Shirley, before Bede made some annoying comment, she yelled “Knock Off!”, Shirley ran and jumped onto Metagross’s back, jumping off of it and then attacking it from the air, and making it drop a form of shiny marble-like stone, neither Bede nor Dory recognized it, but Shirley’s attack still landed and weakened the Metagross.   
Bede yelled out “Psyshock!”, but the metagross had to go in circles as Shirley remained on top of it, Shirley and Bea had their special connection again, they only had to make eye contact to understand each other. Shirly goes beside Metagross, used Vital throw to get it into the air, grabbing onto its leg so she went with it, Bede and Dory all looked up amazed as Shirley jumped off the Metagross, then used another knock off to slam the Metagross back to the ground, making him faint, and Bea win. Shirley ran over and fist-bumped Bea as she and Bede meet in the middle, Bea extended a hand and said “Good game”  
Bede stood and refused to shake hands.  
Dory comes over and says “Stop being such a sore loser man, besides, even if you don’t shake her hand, you’re wearing a skirt tomorrow “  
Bede smirked as he thought of a loophole, “But I don’t have a skirt” he said confidently.  
“Well then come over to my place again”  
Bede groaned and complained “Not that garbage can covered in graffiti again”, Bea got angry and grabbed his wrist. Dory led the way while Bea had to drag Bede, the girls chatted as they had to walk along and take a long way home, refusing to let Bede get the company taxi.

When they got to Dory’s home, her mom was there making dinner and happily welcomed them, “Hi sweetie, Nice to see you again Bea, oh and a new friend?”, she passed the job to Lares as she walked over to Bede with a warm smile that gave Bede a weird warmness that made him calm down  
“I’m Bede,” he said.  
“I’m Stephanie Joy, Dory’s mom, but you can just call me Nurse Joy or Ms. Joy” Dory’s mom happily told him  
Bea dragged Bede to Dory’s room and sat him on Dory’s bed as Dory grabbed some skirts, Bede crossed his arms as Dory hands him a uniform skirt, he rolled his eyes, held it, and asked “Where can I change?”  
“just go in my closet and close the doors”, and Bede does just that while Dory moves some clothes off a mirror. Bede comes out, red in the face as Bea and Dory see him, but Dory smiled and said “hey you don’t look that bad”  
Bede got surprised and asked, “Really?”, he looked in the mirror and actually admired how it looked and how he felt very comfortable  
“Yeah, you’re actually pretty cute” Bea added  
Bede got his confidence back, he flipped his hair and said “I guess I attract all with my devilish good looks”,   
but then Bea continued and said “If only your personality wasn’t so garbage”  
Bede gave her an annoyed look. Bede would keep admiring himself while Bea and Dory chat, Dory’s mom knocked and said from the other side of the door “Dinner’s ready”, Bea jumped down but Bede asked while bright red, “May I keep wearing this? It’s strangely comfortable”  
Dory smiled and said, “Go ahead, my mom won’t mind”. They all sit down as Dory sets out some plates and Lares puts Shepherds Pie on their plates.  
Dory’s mom said to Bede “You look pretty good in a skirt, do you dress like that a lot?”  
Bede rolled his eyes and said trying to sound annoyed, “Thank you but I’m only wearing this because of a bet that I have to wear one for a full day”  
Dory’s mom could immediately sense his narcissism and lies, she got a smug face while cutting her food, she asked him “Well then why did you wear it to the dinner table if you came in wearing pants, meaning that tomorrow is that ‘one full day’”, Bede tried to think of a comeback and just took a bite of his food, Dory’s mom decided to tell him “You know, on Saturdays, the street is full of shops, maybe you can find some cute outfits”  
“Oh no need, the Chairman can buy me outfits from designer brands” he responded.  
“Well I think smaller businesses are nicer, more close, and homey” Dory decided to add. Bede began thinking about that. _‘Close and homey’_ was something Bede never had, Chairman Rose worked long hours, Oleana frequently organized him and spent hours on research, Bede himself was dedicated to battling, he was always fine with that set up, but now, he found a new warmth among Dory and her little family.

Bede went home, he changed into his more casual outfit, a pair of tight white pants and shirt, a pair of black and pink shoes, and his long magenta coat with logos from Chairman Rose’s company. On his way to his room, he saw Oleana walking with Chairman Rose, Bede shyly approached them and said “Chairman, Oleana”  
Oleana responded robotically “Bede”   
Rose said warmly “Hi Bede”  
Bede shyly asked “Chairman, may we have a family dinner?”  
Chairman Rose smiled at the idea but Oleana answered for him, “I’m sorry Bede but he has several meetings and business trips planned for the next three days”.   
The Chairman sighed and then gave Bede an apologetic smile as he says “Sorry kid, I’ll be sure to have Oleana clear up some space in four-“  
“Six”  
“Six days, we can have our dinner then, write that down Oleana” Oleana quickly makes a note as Rose ruffled Bede’s hair and continued walking. Bede went to bed and felt a little empty as he slept, an emptiness he didn’t recognize before.

The next day, Bede went to school in a uniform skirt, he felt comfortable wearing it but dreaded entering school, expecting a tsunami of laughs in his direction. He entered, and no one laughed, some people would glance at him but he never felt laughed at, one guy even came up and called him cute. He went to History class, when Dory came in, she said “Hey Bede, how’s the skirt been?”  
Bede thought a little and said, “it’s been great…” he smiled and continued “perhaps I could use a few more of these to wear more often… they are comfortable”  
Dory smiled and happily asked, “Cool, does this make us friends?”  
He sighed, “I guess if you’re the only one who can give me some skirts…”  
Dory smiled wide, “I’ll take that as a yes! Besides, we still have the project to work on”  
“I guess”  
The class started, and Bede smiled, having a _‘friend’_.


	5. You're Face To Face

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dory enters the Pre-tryouts for cheerleaders and ends up beside Marnie.

It was lunch, Dory was walking to her and Bea’s usual spot when she passed the corkboard. She glanced at it and saw some of the usual sheets up, “ _A Winter’s Ball_ Needs people to attend”, “Sign up for the Chess club”, and such. But as she passed, she saw the words: “Cheerleader Pre-Tryout Performance”. Dory stopped and looked back to read the entire page:

_This Friday after school, there will be an event for people hoping to become cheerleaders. They will be able to cheer for one challenger during the Tournament pre-tryouts. YOU MAY ONLY CHEER FOR ONE CHALLENGER, IF YOU CHOOSE A CHALLENGER YOU WILL HAVE TO WEAR THEIR TYPE, IF NOT, WEAR THE TYPE OF YOUR HOMETOWN_

Underneath were a few more details and a sign-up sheet, Dory considered signing up, but then she looked next to it and saw the sign-up sheet for the tournament pre-tryouts. There were already a few names signed under it, she saw Bea’s name (of course), but the top name was “Marnie”, Dory became bright red as she realized she could cheer on Marnie and have Marnie listen to her cheers, _Marnie will get to hear me cheering for her, she could love my cheers, she could love me cheers so much she falls for me!_  
She romantically sighed at the thought, she put her name in the cheerleading sheet along with a note she’d be cheering for Marnie. She felt light as air as she walked towards her bench.

She felt lost in the moment of Marnie shyly coming to her after the tryouts and asking her out, the moment repeated and repeated in her head, her heart fluttered like a swarm of Vivillion and her cheeks were redder and warmer than a magcargo, the entire world disappeared around her. She felt so lost, until she heard some faint sound, as she woke up she could more clearly hear the sound of snapping and Bea calling her name. She shook her head and looked beside her to see Bea sitting beside her, “Dorothy? Dory are you back?” She said while snapping her fingers. 

Dory shook her head again as she said “Yeah, I am…”  
“What was all that about, you were like that since I got here a minute ago,” Bea asked, a little concerned.

Dory smiled as she answered in a romantic tone “Marnie”, she was about to disappear again when Bea shook her and asked, “What about her?”. Dory happily told her about the sheet and her plans, but then Bea asked, “Oh, I thought you’d cheer me on with what you already have done”

Dory felt a bit bad and said “Yeah, but you know how I feel about Marnie, and this could be my chance, besides we have all those other battles where I cheer just for you, so it’s fine right?” Dory gave an apologetic smile and Bea sighed

“Sure, and I guess good luck, so let’s eat before you go to la-la land again”  
Dory giggled and opened her lunch.

After English, Dory was behind Marnie as they walked towards their lockers, Dory walking far behind in case Marnie turned around, Marnie would stop at the corkboard and look at the sheets. Dory was ready and quickly went inside a nearby bush, she watched as Marnie read the sheet and then kept walking, Dory waited for a little before continuing. She didn’t think much of Marnie reading it until their classes ended, Bea and Dory were making their way to the locker rooms to change out of their school uniforms, but Marnie would walk over to them.

“Your Dory right?” She asked

Dory felt several arrows go right through her heart, _she knows my name, she knows my face, she isn’t all blushing and shy, w-why did she ask for me, d-did she see my name, d-does she know I’m Cheering for her?_. Dory was quickly trying to pick what to say but Bea answered for her, “She is” and moved Dory a little closer to Marnie, _Bea, I love you so much right now_.

“Cool, I saw that you’d be cheerin’ for me, I figured you should know my team” Marnie continued

Dory shyly said “Y-yeah, that’d really help me out…”

“Okay, there’s my Morgrem ‘Impy’ who’s best moves are False Surrender and Drainin’ Kiss, my Liepard ‘Felix’ who knows Sucker Punch, and of course ‘Snickers’ my Morpeko, Aura Wheel of course”

“T-thanks,” Dory said _She names her Pokemon too! We have something in common! Her names are so cute! How is she this cute!_ Dory felt her heart melt away like snow when the summer comes.

Bea decided to help and said “She names her Pokemon too”  
“Oh yeah…I know you named your Sylveon,” Marnie asked  
“Y-yeah…” Dory said, _Bea, I FREAKING LOVE YOU_ , “y-you know Pink...T-then there’s my two Zigzagoons, ‘Mercury’ and ‘Elton’, a-a Spritzee named ‘Starr’, a-and ‘Lennon’ my Zorua”  
“Cute” Marnie said “I guess I’ll see you around” she waved and walked to the locker rooms. Right when she was out of sight, Dory fell backward, Bea caught her and yelled “Dory!”, but Dory was caught on that single word.

“She said it’s cute, she said my name”, Dory’s heart was no more than a warm puddle of a blushing mess. She stood up still red and hugged Bea tight, Bea became a little red and Dory held her hands. She immediately said “Thank you, Thank you, Thank You! I freaking love you! If you ever need help with a crush I will drop everything to help you!” Dory had a big smile as she was jumping a little as she kept bombarding Bea with “Thank you”’s and “I love you”’s. Bea shyly smiled and could barely calm her down.

When she got home, she immediately began writing down her thoughts in her spiral notebook. She took time off to write cheers down and after school, she began practicing her routine. She felt such excitement and such love as she wrote them all.

The day came, after school, Dory put on her dark type uniform (with the skirt) she sat with Bea in her fighting type uniform, and there were several other girls in cheerleading uniforms. She saw some in the fighting uniform like Bea, others wore the Ice and rock type Uniforms of Circhester, there were some dragon types from Hammerlocke, fairy types from Ballonella, Ghost types also from Stow-On-Side, and some poison and steel uniforms from Wyndon. She noticed she was the only one in a dark type uniform, she also noticed some girls would glance at her and whisper to their cliques, sometimes they’d giggle after whispering.

Dory was more annoyed than hurt as she was used to Spikemuth’s reputation among other towns. Bea looked at a group, she stood up and walked towards them, she said in her stern tone “Leave her alone”, a girl in a fairy uniform would ask a girl in a dragon uniform, “doesn’t she look familiar”.

The dragon uniform girl examined Bea for a second, she gets a surprised look and exclaims: “You’re Bea! One of the candidates for gym leader!”. Dory got a surprised look, Bea never mentioning anything about being a gym leader and Dory not reading much into the Galar league.

“You’re training to be a gym leader?” Dory asked, “Why didn’t you tell me?”  
Bea looked to her, “It’s not something I want to drag you into, I know you’re pretty quiet and Gymleaders have the entirety of Galar watching them”

“Also because she knows she’ll lose” A voice would intrude, it was bubbly yet had an edge to it, like it would have an innocent smile while choking you. “So many Challengers, there are so many to destroy, hee hee~”

Everyone looked in the voice’s direction and saw a girl. She wore the poison type uniform and a white fluffy coat, she had beach white skin with a small beauty mark on her left cheek, short pink hair, her bangs creating a shade over her purple eyes, and in her hair was a dustox bow. The dragon girl would ask, “I’m sorry who are you?”

The girl would visibly be annoyed, yet kept her bubbly smile, her shade covered eyes showing her anger, she said in her bubbly voice, “Why I’m Klara, of course~, the pop star, and future gym leader~”. No one said anything.

Dory would break the silence by saying, “No one knows who you are or what you do”

Klara turned to her and gave a bubbly giggle, the same tone as her voice.  
“Oh I’m sure you will, I even have my own league card~” Klara would pull a card from her pocket and hand it to Dory, she wouldn’t take it. Klara gave another bubbly giggle as she took it back “Of course I’ll give you an autograph!” she slammed her fist on a locker a few times before it opened, she grabbed a pen and signed her name on the card. She set the card next to Dory and said “Anything for a fan” she winked at Dory and blew a kiss.

Dory felt threatened and took the card so she could feel safe again. On the front was a selfie of Klara with a slowbro out of focus, she noticed the Slowbro was a little distorted, she looked at the back of the card and the bottom said:

##### “Not Official Pokemon League Card - Made At Brian’s Cardbooth”

Dory recognized Brian’s Cardbooth as a booth in Spikemuth, she was about to ask Klara but was still kinda scared of her. Klara flipped her hair and said “Still, I’m happy to have one fan, and I’m happy to take one of the three Gym Leader spots open”

Bea looked to Dory and they both knew they had to leave, Bea said “Umm, we have to practice a little more”.

Klara smiles and waves, “Alright, hope you like the card, bye-bye~” Dory shyly smiles as she grabs her pom-poms and Pokeballs. She and Bea walked around the corner and then ran to the gym. 

They sat down on the bleachers to catch their breath, Dory would look at Bea and ask: “So there are three gym spots?”   
“Yeah, at Circhester and Stow-On-Side, they’re both rotating gyms, both leaders at Stow-On-Side and one of the Circhester leaders retired, neither of them passed down their responsibilities, meaning that those spots are open”  
“And is there one you’re aiming for?” Dory asked  
Bea chuckled, “Yeah, Stow-On-Side, my home town… I’m kinda hoping if I become a gym leader my parents will finally calm down with all the training and I can train at my own pace”  
Dory put a hand on Bea’s shoulder to console her “I know you’ll get that spot, you’re one of the strongest trainers I know” Dory smiles, making Bea smile.

People began coming in, including the cheer judges and referee, Dory got excited as she saw Bede come in wearing a Psychic Uniform, she excitedly waved at him, he put his hands in his pockets as he joined Bea and Dory. Dory was about to greet Bede, when she saw Marnie enter wearing a dark type uniform, the uniform made of a crop top and leggings, Dory felt her heart skip multiple beats after being shot by cupid’s arrow. Bede would see her and ask Bea, “What’s with her”  
“Marnie’s uniform”  
“Oh right she has that pesky crush,” he said while joining them.  
Bea would start shaking Dory to wake her up.

Marnie would sit on the opposite side bleachers, she sat at the top of them with her Morpeko, some people would glance at her and do what they did with Dory: they would whisper to friends about the _Spikemuth Girl_ and giggle about her. Marnie didn’t acknowledge them, but Dory felt defensive and angry. Before Dory could do anything, one of the judges would stand up with a megaphone and say:

“Alright Everyone, we’ll be starting in a few minutes, will everyone please sit with your same type”

People began moving about, Bea stood up and looks at Dory, “Good luck Dory, with the cheers and sitting with Marnie”  
Dory shyly laughed and turned red “T-thanks, good luck to you too”  
Bea smiled and left, Bede got annoyed and asked “What am I, a dunsparce?”  
Dory stands up and sarcastically says, “Good luck Bede”  
“I don’t need luck, I’ve trained for months”, Bede left.   
Dory shyly made her way across the gym towards Marnie, she glanced over at Bea with three other people, Bea looked at Dory and gave her a reassuring smile.

Dory sat beside Marnie, her heart racing faster than a Deoxys in speed form, she sat down, Marnie said “Hey”. Dory shyly waved, _Don’t worry Dory, she’s just another person, you’ve talked before, calm down, don’t worry_ , Dory looked at Marnie, but immediately looked away _She’s an adorable person! Calm down calm down, focus on something else_. She looked around and saw people still gossiping about their shady town, but then she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned and completely froze up when she saw Marnie was comforting her, her stomach tightening and her heart beating the fastest she’s ever felt it beat, it felt like it was about to catapult out of her chest, Marnie said to her in her adorable calm voice, “Let’s just ignore them, Spikemuth’s a nice town, you are from Spikemuth right?”  
“Y-yeah” Dory’s heart still beat rapidly, but she somehow felt touched by Marnie’s words  
“Yeah, they just think it’s some crime-filled city, but we know it’s just busy and not as big on the popular brands and stuff”  
“Y-yeah” Dory’s heart was still excited but she felt a bit more comfortable talking to her “I-I got this uniform from Nick’s Closet”  
“Me too,” Marnie said with a little smile, keeping the calm demeanor that made Dory fall for her.  
Dory smiled _I’m Actually talking to her! And we actually have something in common! And she is so cute!_. Before they could continue, the referee would hold up a megaphone and speak;

“Alright, each Challenger has an associated type, each challenger will battle one other challenger today. Your opponents are based on typing, no challenger having a type advantage over another, this will be based on your skills alone. Standard tournament rules: no revives, no healing items, no switching out Pokémon. That being said, our first match up is the Poison Type User from Wyndon, Klara Kurara, and the Dark Type User from Spikemuth, Marnie Nezu”

Marnie nodded and stood up, her Morpeko jumping to her shoulder, Dory followed her and stood at the end of the field, releasing Pink, Elton, and Mercury. Klara stood across from Marnie, she’d wink at Dory, across from Dory was three cheerleaders in poison type uniforms. Klara released her Weezing and Marnie’s Morpeko ran in front of her.

The referee blew his whistle, the battle started and Klara giggled before saying, “Toxic Miley~” and her Weezing released a purple liquid that was able to hit Morpeko, the poison cheerleaders started one of their prewritten cheers. 

Morpeko was hurt and Marnie was quick to act, she commanded “Torment Snickers!”. Snickers stomped her foot on the ground and gave a small roar, Snickers then changed into her hangry form. 

Dory began shaking her Pom-Poms along with her pokemon (Whom she bought pom-poms for), Mercury and Elton holding one pom in their mouths, Mercury headbanging. Dory began one of her custom cheers:

“Can’t use that move anymore, Hit’em till they taste the floor!”

Some people would clap, Klara mostly ignored it, assuming it was just another pre-written cheer. She keeps her bubbly smile as she says in a sing-songy tone, “Use Strange Steam my lovable smoke stack~”  
She clasped her hands together and leaned forward as Miley released a pink smoke that enveloped the field, her small group of Cheerleaders giving another cheer.

Snickers was badly hurt and got confused, walking in circles a little. Marnie reluctantly says “Use Quick Attack Snickers”, Snickers shook her head and was able to run and hit the Weezing. Marnie gave Snickers a thankful look and she gave a smile.

Klara giggled,   
“Oh you little Punk Girl~, Sorry for having to be so tough with you~ another Strange Steam Miley~”  
Miley repeated the move, this time fainting Snickers.

Marnie sighed, she picked up Snickers and kissed her forehead before having her return. She was quick to release Felix, her Liepard, and commanded “Fake Out!”, as Felix ran forward, Dory began her cheer;

“Come on Felix keep your guard, You’re our favorite Liepard!”

As Dory cheered, she bent down so Elton and Mercury could get on her back, then Dory stood back up and they formed an upside-down pyramid. As they finished, Felix clapped her paws together at Miley, making it disoriented. Marnie took the chance and shouted, “Now Nasty Plot!”, Felix closed her eyes for a second before opening her eyes at her conclusion. Dory was luckily able to write a cheer for the attack:

“keep your nasty plots as secrets, Then use it to beat’em, Felix!”

Klara was angry, she stamped her foot down, she kept her smile but one eye would twitch, she looked at her cheerleaders and asked in a threatening tone “Why didn’t you write individual cheers for my Pokemon and their attacks!”. They nervously cheered and stepped back. Klara took a breath and flipped her hair as she commanded, “Just use a Strange Steam again and gets this over with”, the Weezing did so, but Felix’s plot came in.

She ran around Miley so the Strange Steam created a ring, before she was closed in, she kicked towards the center and had Miley get hit by her own steam. Klara was angry but Marnie took advantage by commanding “Use Quick Attack!”, there were several sounds of attacks but it was all hidden by the mist. When it all finally cleared, Felix jumped out and strut towards Marnie as the fainted Weezing was revealed. Klara stamped her foot several times as her smile was completely replaced by an angry frown  
“Not fair, not fair, NOT FAIR! Tell me she broke SOME LAW! She had to have cheated somehow! SHE’S FROM SPIKEMUTH!”  
Both Dory and Marnie got angry, the referee went through a handbook and said “Nope, it’s fair”

Dory got a confident smirk  
“Spikemuth has one bad name, Come on Marnie, change the game!”   
She then tilted her head and moved her arms out, pointing to Marnie. She wouldn’t see, but Dory made a heart shape with her fingers hidden by her Pom Poms.

Klara looked away and crossed her arms and released a Whirlipede, Marnie smirked at the slightly level playing field. Klara was quick to command,   
“Bug Bite Mars”  
“Dodge and use Sucker Punch Felix”  
Mars begins spinning and rolls at Felix, only for her to jump out of the way at the last minute and punch it on the side. But the Klara gets a mischievous smirk, “Poison Tail~”  
Mars immediately changes direction and goes full speed to attack Felix, hitting her with one of its feelers, knocking Felix back. As she stood up, purple bubbles would form around her, she’d give a small cough, Marnie saw and got a more serious expression.  
“Just keep using Sucker Punch”  
Felix would throw a few more punches as Mars is severely weakened, but the poison would take its toll and knocks out Felix. Klara returned to her confident demeanor, she giggled with a little insanity, “Sorry you’re losing cutie~”.

Marnie didn’t respond, she returned Felix, and she felt powerful confidence as she releases her Morgrem.

“Come on Morgrem! come on Morgrem! We all know you can hit’em!” Dory cheered excitedly, Morgrem being one of her harder rhymes 

Marnie gave her first command, “Play Rough Impy”

The Morgrem evilly snickered, he quickly crawled forward and latched onto the Whirlipede and attacked it within a cloud of smoke. 

Klara got annoyed, one eye twitching as she calls out, “Get him off Mars!”, Mars quickly rolled around the field, only to fail. After some spinning, the spinning stopped and the Whirlipede fell, Impy happily crawling off the fainted Whirlipede and snickering again.

Klara looked just about ready to snap as she finally released her Galarian Slowbro. She commanded: “Scald Perry”  
The Slowbro shot a hot stream of water from the shellder on its arm, Impy quickly slithered its way away from the blast and towards Perry.  
“Use Foul Play”  
Impy devilishly snickered as he bit Perry to gain some of her strength before smashing his head against her, making her fall back.

Klara stamped her foot several times as she grew mad, she yelled: “JUST USE SCALD TILL HE’S NOTHING BUT A BURNING PILE OF GREMLIN ASHES!”  
Perry became afraid and did so, this time hitting Impy, launching him back. But Impy wouldn’t move, Klara would be confused, “Did the annoying gremlin faint?”. Perry would walk over, picking up his hand, Impy opened one eye, Marnie leaned her head down, and commanded in her calm yet powerful voice,   
“False surrender”  
The Morgrem stabbed the Slowbro with his hair and used one last attack, making the Slowbro faint. 

The Referee examined the field and shouted:

“The match is over, the Dark Type User from Spikemuth, Marnie Nezu, Wins!”

Klara got angry, steam leaving her head as she stamped her foot down a few times and stormed off to the locker rooms. The crowd would give a confused clap and Marnie got a little smile, Dory would do some final jumps and a split while shaking her Pom Poms. After the group turned to the Cheer judges, one said:

“First, the Poison Team” each judge held up a card.

“8”

“9”

The last judge would pause a little before holding it up, them being the drama teacher.

“9”

The onlookers all clapped

“Please come up to receive our notes and you may leave”  
The group went to the table and each received some paper.  
“Now, the Dark Type ‘Team’”  
Dory felt her stomach tighten as she held her pom-poms over her mouth

“8”

“9”

The pause only made Dory more scared.

“10”

Dory smiled and had little jumps for joy, she bowed, her pokemon following suit. The room clapped and Dory took the notes and walked towards the lockers while returning her Pokemon. As she walked, she felt a sudden chill, her entire body feeling as though it was working out of habit, she looked behind her and realized Marnie was there, she quickly looked forward. _Oh no, Marnie and me will be alone, completely alone, no one else… no one else… just me and-_  
“Hey”  
Dory completely stopped in her tracks, she was only just outside the lockers as Marnie stopped in front of her.  
“You did a good job”  
She gave Dory a little smile and then went inside. Dory became completely red and all that nervousness she felt melted away with her heart. She went to her locker and then lay on a bench as she romantically sighed, thinking of Marnie’s words and letting herself become completely red with the thoughts of that single moment.

Bea would finish up a little after and join Dory in the lockers, Dory couldn’t stop gushing about all that happened. She only stopped when Bea brought up the point, “Marnie might still be here and hear you” which was able to make Dory quiet and Bea giggle, but Bea missed her talking and asked, “So what do the Judge’s notes say?”  
Dory would hold the page, “It’s kinda hard to read, but they say I need to work on working with other people, I need to be a bit peppier, and they liked my cheers… but I can’t use my Pokémon in the actual tryouts”  
“Huh, that's pretty sad, they did help you to get ready”  
“Yeah….”, if not for Bea worrying her about Marnie, Dory would’ve said more.

As they stepped outside, Dory was still silently worrying about Marnie as Bea would giggle as she reassures Dory, “Don’t worry, Marnie left while I was going into the lockers”  
Dory became bright red again and hit Bea with her elbow, “What the hell Bea” she said with a little giggle.  
Bea would giggle with her and say, “Well you wouldn’t stop talking”  
“I’m in love Bea” the two laugh until they see Klara walk over to them as they exit the building.  
“Heya Dory~ Bertha,” she said, giving Bea an annoyed look, “That was some great cheering back there~ I felt so motivated to try harder” Klara stood in front of Dory and twirled one of Dory’s Hoodie straps.  
“I wasn’t cheering for you…”  
Klara gave a cute eerie giggle “Oh that doesn’t matter~ because you’ll cheer for me one day, maybe I’ll even cheer for you~ wouldn’t that just be nice~” her voice became slow with those last five words.  
“Umm...yeah sure…” Dory felt kinda threatened still, not wanting to say anything that may bring about Klara’s anger.  
“Good~” she patted Dory on the head and left with a little strut.

Dory and Bea quickly walked away, heading to the Wyndon train station. Bea would giggle a bit once they felt safe.  
“I think she likes you”  
Dory giggled and hit Bea with her elbow again, “I’m not that dense” she says while giggling to hide the silent terror.  
“So are you going to go out with her?” Bea asked teasingly  
Dory thought a little, “No, I don’t think so”  
“Why? She seems pretty cute”  
“For one, I’m waiting for Marnie to be my first girlfriend” Dory became a little red and daydreamy again, “And because I don’t want to see what she’s like if we broke up”  
Bea laughed, but then she became a little red and looked out the train window.  
“Remember what you said a few days ago? About helping with a crush?”  
“Oh yeah! I owe you big time!”  
Bea chuckled and rubbed the back of her hair, slowly becoming redder.  
“Yeah… you see… t-the next Chatelaine Letter came in this morning and… it’s Evelyn Chatelaine… a-and I may… like her…”


	6. For She's Lived It Ten Times Or More

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bea gets help from Dory with her crush, Evelyn Chatelaine

_“I may… like her…”_

Dory gasped and smiled “Aww! You like someone! Of course, I’ll help you”  
Bea smiled and put an arm around Dory “Thanks Dory…mind if we plan this at your house? I have the letter in my bag”  
Dory smiles “Of course! I’ll tell my mom you’re staying over again!”. Dory took her phone out and quickly texted her mom:

Me: Bea’s coming over

Mom: I knew she would

Mom: I’ve started making extra food just for her every day

Me: XD

Dory giggled and smiled, “Looks like she was expecting you” Bea giggled too. When they arrived at Dory’s apartment, they said quick hello’s to her mom and rushed into her room. Bea had visited a lot, to the point Dory’s mom doesn’t ask if there’s a reason anymore. 

Dory and Bea sat on Dory’s bed, Dory sat and said “Alright! Tell me what you know about her”.  
Bea started thinking “Alright… well I’ve heard she’s really shy…like really shy... a-and she likes to read…” she started to become red “A-and I heard she can easily get emotional… a-and she’s had breakdowns while on camera and I just want to bend down and comfort her” she got a dopey smile as she had that thought.   
Dory giggled and smiled “That sounds so cute, so she’s kinda a shy artsy girl”  
“Yeah” Bea shyly chuckled “t-they’re kinda my type...n-not my only one but y-you know” she rubs the back of her head.  
Dory smiles “it’s weird seeing you all blushy and shy Bea”  
“Yeah, I can see why you get so _Helpless_ around Marnie…”  
Dory became red and shyly laughed “Alright, this is about you not me~, the best thing to do is to go and talk to her”  
“S-seriously that’s the first thing you say? I could’ve gotten that from anyone!”  
“Bea” Dory put a hand on Bea’s shoulder, “I can tell you first hand that she would not make the first move… so you have to make it… and she probably won’t know you yet…”  
“A-alright… I guess…should I dress fancy when I go up to her?”  
“No! Just make her feel comfortable, maybe ask her about whatever book she’s reading”  
“A-alright…” Bea fell silent for a bit, expecting Dory to say more “Well?”  
“That’s all I got”  
“That’s all you got!” Bea became annoyed, “What kinda answer is that!”  
“Sorry! If I was some relationship expert don’t you think I’d be with Marnie by now!?”   
Bea thought a little. “Alright that makes sense, so just talk to her?” Bea asked, becoming a little more disheartened.  
“Yes, and I know you’ll be fine, you’re a strong trainer, you’re a supportive friend, even if she says ‘no’, anyone would be lucky to have you as a girlfriend” Dory put a hand on Bea’s, smiling at her to encourage her. Bea became red and smiled back,  
“Thanks, Dory…”

The two would have dinner and get to bed early so they can get to work finding Evelyn in the morning. While Dory and her mom set up a bed for Bea, her mom would joke, “Should I buy a bunk bed for when she comes over?” It made Dory giggle but then think. Every time she slept over, she always slept on the ground, while Dory and her mom took special care to make a bed using pillows and blankets, she started feeling bad for her. Sometime in the night, Bea would grab one of Dory’s hoodies (which she was slowly getting less of), but before she lay back in her bed, Dory would sit up in her’s. “Want to sleep with me up here?” Dory asked  
Bea became red and whispered, “I’m fine on the ground”  
“I insist, you deserve a nice warm bed”  
“I-i guess but-“  
“If it makes you uncomfortable I can always take your bed”  
Bea sighed “Alright move over”  
Dory smiled and carefully moved over, trying not to wake Elton who was sleeping on top of her. Bea would lay down next to her, still red, she pulled the blanket over herself, through the night, she’d toss and turn a lot. When Dory turned around to check-in Bea, she had a somewhat distressed expression, she was hugging herself and had the hoodie’s hood up, Dory shyly shook her awake, Bea shakily opened her eyes.  
“What is it, Dory?” Bea asked half awake  
“Are you okay Bea?”  
Bea rubbed her eye, “I’m umm… having a nightmare...bad thoughts you know”  
“Oh…” Dory gave a sympathetic smile as she lay back down and turned again “you can hug one of my plushies if it makes you feel better”  
“Thanks…” she said while tilting her head up. She saw a cute Wooloo plush, she reached over Dory to grab it, but then she felt something inside her. Her hand slowly went down and brought Dory into a hug, Dory was surprised and became red, she was about to talk to Bea, but then she saw Bea hugging her. Bea had a smile on her face and looked incredibly peaceful, Dory felt strange, her stomach tightened and her heart began to beat faster, she was confused, but shyly smiled. She let Bea hug her and she silently fell asleep, becoming as peaceful as Bea was.

When Dory woke up, it was around 9:30, and Bea was gone. She went to the main room and saw Bea making some cereal and wearing one of her hoodies, Bea looked up, “Morning Dory”  
“Morning… when did you wake up,” Dory asked curiously as she walked towards the kitchen.  
“Around 9 or so…” Bea seemed a little too focused on just cereal, as she came close, Dory noticed Bea was a little red.  
“Bea, if this is about last nigh-“ Bea stopped her by handing her bowl and going to the couch to start eating. Dory was a little confused and sat beside her, Bea quickly began eating,  
“Bea… what’s wrong?” Dory asked while placing her hand on Bea’s shoulder  
Bea became bright red, she swallowed her food and set the bowl down. “I’m sorry, I-I was sleeping a-and I umm thought you were Evelyn a-and I hugged you out of habit, s-sorry I-I don’t know you’re my only other friend a-and I don’t know if that made you uncomfortable a-and” Bea began spiraling and Dory put her hands on Bea’s shoulder.  
“Bea! Bea calm down it’s okay!”  
It took Bea a minute to relax but she’d ask “I-it’s fine? I-I didn’t cross any boundary o-or make you uncomfortable?”  
“Bea, I hugged you just yesterday, you can hug me whenever”  
“R-really?”  
“Yeah, it was just a hug, you weren’t being creepy, you didn’t grab my tit, it’s fine”  
Bea relaxed “Okay… thanks Dory… “ she started to giggle “it’s not like you have much there”  
Dory would blush and laugh with her “Shut up”

The two ate and laughed, soon enough they got to work. Bea received the letter the day before, it was the same one from last time, the only differences were a yellow stamp next to the first puzzle, and a new puzzle under it:

## Where does a train end and learn about Pokémon?

Dory immediately had an idea, “A train ends” she said “So where the train stops”  
“And there are four places the train ‘ends’, Freezington, Wyndon, Wild Area, and Wedgehurst” Bea added  
“Let’s cross off Wyndon and Freezington, they don’t have much to do with learning,” Dory said while rereading the letter.  
“But our school is in Wyndon”   
“Oh yeah…. but it’s probably closed…”. As Dory kept Reading, Bea got an idea,  
“How about we run to the Wild Area station, and if she’s not there, we take the train to Wedgehurst”  
Dory thought a little “Alright… are you sure we should run there? Don’t you remember the last time we ran together?”  
Bea smiles “Well try to keep up this time around” she giggled as she was ready to get running.

The girls got a train to Motostoke, and then went to the main gate. Bea had her fighting uniform on (barefoot of course) and had one of Dory’s Hoodies around her waist, and Dory put on her cheerleading uniform with her hoodie in the same position. While Bea stretched, Dory giggled and said “We look like a team, with my hoodie like this…”  
Bea smiled “Yeah, speaking of the team…” Bea released her team, she addressed them “alright, we’re running across the wild area-“  
“Oh wait!” Dory interrupted as she released her own Pokémon, the second it was released, her Morepeko immediately ran in the opposite direction. Dory was surprised and looked at Starr, “Mind catching him?” Starr gave a happy tweet and began flying after Morpeko.  
Bea continued, “We’re starting here, going through East Lake Axwell, across the Rolling Fields, to the Meetup spot”  
When Pink heard that, she started giving annoyed barks, Dory’s Zorua would follow, Dory said “Oh come on guys, don’t be like that, Lennon, I understand Pink a little more but not you”. The two kept their annoyed looks, Dory sighed “Fine, you can stay in Motostoke if you want, but don’t expect them to serve two Pokémon separated from their trainer”.  
Lennon gave a mischievous grin as he changed forms to look like Dory, Dory crossed her arms, “Don’t use my form” Lennon rolled his eyes and morphed into his more casual human form. It was a boy around Dory’s age, with pale skin, black hair with red highlights, and blue eyes, wearing a slate black hoodie, shorts in the same color, red shoes, and a black scarf, Lennon wasn’t good with transforming so his tail would poke out from the pants, he copied a zorua ear headband to make it look like a form of cosplay. He and Pink tilted their heads up and went into Motostoke. Dory looked at Elton and Mercury, “You two will stick with my right?” Dory asks, they both bark, Mercury being louder. 

The seven of them all start running, and the run was fairly relaxing, Mercury became competitive as he began racing with Bea’s Pokemon, and when he was falling behind he’d tackle Elton and Dory had to break them up before catching up to Bea, which was worth five fights in itself. When they arrived at the station, Dory and her Pokemon breathed heavily as they caught their breath, Bea looked around, “She’s not here” she said, “We should head to the Pokemon nursery”  
Dory, Elton, and Mercury all got worried and Dory spoke up “Let’s go to Wedgehurst first!”  
Bea thought a little and slapped herself in the face “Wedgehurst Library….”  
“What?” Dory asked a little annoyed.  
“There’s a library in Wedgehurst and it’s the home of that one Professor girl…”  
“So we didn’t have to run ALL THIS WAY! AND LOSE MORPEKO AND STARR!” Dory got angry  
“Yeah…” Bea said while rubbing the back of her head “But it’s about the journey” she said trying to sound optimistic. Dory wasn’t phased.

They boarded a train, and it took Bea a while to get Dory smiling again. They soon arrived at the small town of Wedgehurst and went to the library, it was a calm little place with plants around and walls lined with books, there were already a few people around. Bea and Dory walked inside, Bea looked and became bright red when she saw Evelyn, she had on a turtleneck sweater with a diamond pattern, she wore leggings and a long skirt with some simple loafers, her short hair was tied into a cute bun, some hair in front of her face. Dory noticed the redness in Bea’s face and followed her line of sight to see Evelyn, “Is that her?” She asks and Bea nods. Dory gets excited and prepares to walk over, “Great then let’s go!”  
“Wait!” Bea stopped her and grabbed her wrist “I-I don’t know if I'm ready...” she felt her stomach tighten and her heartbeat.  
Dory put her hand on Bea’s, she smiles as she says “Then let me talk to her and bring her over”  
Bea rubbed the back of her head “I-I don’t know, m-maybe-“ as she spoke, Dory left. She became bright red when she saw Dory make her way across the room to her.

Bea became nervous, _What’s she gonna do?_. She helplessly watched as Dory spoke to Evelyn, as Dory approached her, Evelyn hugged her book and shyly spoke to Dory, Bea was bright red as she saw how cute they looked. Dory would then lead Evelyn downstairs, Bea became bright red and nervous, _I’m through…_ , Dory would bring Evelyn over to Bea. Evelyn shyly curtsied,  
“I-I’m Evelyn…” she said, her voice was soft and soothing, it somewhat relaxed Bea, ut her heart kept rapidly beating.  
“I’m Bea… I-I umm, I-I’m doing the Chatelaine Challenge” Bea shyly handed her the letter.  
“A-alright, l-let’s go outside…” Evelyn stepped outside, Bea followed her but spoke to her when they were out the door.  
“H-hey umm.., s-so how long are you staying in Galar?  
“Probably another few months… m-my sisters usually treat this as a vacation of sorts”  
“Sounds pretty nice”  
“I-I guess it has been nice to do a little reading… but not as nice when I have to leave for a battle...”  
Bea felt a little bad now, “Well… if you want you can go back…”  
“R-really?” Evelyn had a little sparkle in her eyes and she smiled.  
“Y-yeah we can just battle some other time…” Bea shyly said, feeling her heart beginning to beat faster than she could run.  
Evelyn smiled and hugged her “Thank you!”  
Bea became bright red and shyly hugged her back, she looked at Dory who mouthed _‘Number’_ , Bea nodded and asked “S-say umm… c-can I get your number… s-so we can plan a day to battle… maybe over some coffee” she mumbled the coffee part, but Evelyn heard it.  
Evelyn became nervous as she said “I-I’m sorry… i-if you’re asking me out...I-I’m not really interested in dating right now” _Not really interested, not really interested, not really interested_ Bea felt her heart sink into quicksand as she was rejected, Evelyn was worried she hurt Bea and shyly adds “I-It’s not you, I-I kinda just broke up with someone a-and I-I’m on a little break, d-don’t worry we broke up on good terms”. Her words were a little reassuring, Bea sighed and said,  
“A-alright… so just friend for now?”  
“Yeah, just friends…” she said, but Bea felt a little better.

Bea got her number, but couldn’t shake off Evelyn's words. She and Dory took a train to Hammerlocke, after a few stops, the train was empty and Bea hung her head low, Dory hugged her, unsure what to say to help her, but she only made things worse. When they arrived at Hammerlocke, they would go their separate ways, Dory smiled at Bea, “I’ll see you at school” she said trying to comfort Bea, but Bea reverted to a state she knew well. Her expression became stoic as she seemingly forgets all emotions, she says in an almost blank tone, “See you” and walked towards Stow-On-Side.

When she arrived home, her parents were home, her mother glanced at her and said, “Evening Beatrice, how was your training?”  
“I ran across the Wild Area Twice and defeated 4 Pangoros,” Bea said in her now calm and stoic voice,  
Her parents were unimpressed, her father said “You should’ve made an attempt to defeat seven of them”  
“Yes father,” Bea said before going upstairs, silently angry. She knew if she lied about defeating 7, they’d want her to defeat 9, if she said 9 they’d want 15, and so on and so on. She went up to her room and lay in bed, closing her eyes, she began to think back. It was days like this, she just wanted to rewind-


	7. Stow-On-Side Girl

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rewinding to see Bea's perspective of events.

It was days like this, she just wanted to rewind…

Evelyn’s shy rejection hurt Bea worse than anyone knew, it meant that the only other person she had a chance to have her first relationship with was the one person so close, and yet so far away. She lay in bed and fell asleep so she could just rewind.

She rewinded to the girl with the mousy hair, to her close and only friend, Dory, she would’ve curled up into a ball and cried if not for rewinding her thoughts to Dory. She remembered Dory’s bright smile that could bring a smile back to her, she remembered how she glows when she’s excited, she remembered the special aura around her when she sang. She decided to think back to a much happier time.

She thought back to the first time she saw Dory. It was lunch, her parents wanted her to spend lunch training, they only allowed her to carry around 3 Pokemon during school days and outside gym leader training, she chose her Sirfetch’d, Falinks, and Machop. She went to the battling fields to fight her Machop, when she arrived she saw two girls, one was waiting in line for lunch, she had pale skin, black hair styled into ‘punk pigtail’, and green eyes, she wore a red bag with her uniform and had a very calm expression. The other girl was admiring her from afar, she had light fawn skin, blue eyes, and curly, dirty blonde hair, she had a small black duffle bag. When the black-haired girl turned around, the blonde girl quickly hid in a bush, Bea got a little giggle watching, but she quickly hid it. 

The next day, she had a light breakfast as her parents wanted Bea to wake up earlier for training before school. They pushed her far beyond her limit, battling head-on against foes far larger and far tougher than her, sometimes multiple at the same time while jogging. She always wanted to train at a pace she could handle and would still improve at, but, _her parents know best_.

She was going towards the fields when she saw the blonde girl from the day before. She was sitting by herself and having lunch, _What’s the harm in saying hi?_ , she walked over and when they were face to face, Bea spoke first,  
“Hi, I’m Bea”  
“I’m Dory”  
She remembered talking while her, she felt at peace. She didn’t have to push herself or have someone pushing her, she was just at peace.

She was later presently surprised to see Dory again in the gymnastics class next to her battle class. After school, when they met up again, Bea felt a strange warmness inside her, meeting Dory’s Pokemon and then naming her own small team was somehow relaxing and made her feel closer to both Dory and the Pokemon they both had, she even smiled, she felt like it had been ages since she smiled. Later, when she saw Dory fall, she felt an immediate need to help her, she helped her stand up, she saw Dory was staring in one direction, she followed her gave and saw the black-haired girl from the previous day, she now wore an open black leather jacket, choker, and designer boots, as well a pink dress. She was a bit confused about how she made Dory fall and even more confused when she realized Dory disappeared, leaving only her Sylveon.

The black-haired girl stopped by and noticed how confused Bea looked, she asked, “Hey are you okay?”  
Bea shook her head and stood up, “Yeah, my friend fell and just disappeared…”  
“Oh… okay then… I’m Marnie”  
“Bea… and this is my friend’s Sylveon, Pink”  
“Oh… don’t we have math and history together?”  
Bea thought a little, “Yeah we do”  
“Cool, I’ll see you, tomorrow in class”  
“See you”, they waved goodbye as Marnie left.

Bea and Pink kept looking for Dory until she stood up from a bush, they ran over to her and Bea asked, “Why were you in that bush”.  
Pink began barking and Dory shakily responded, “I-I was hiding…”  
“From that Marnie Girl?” Bea said, feeling a strange sense of defense, “Is she bullying you?” Bea felt a surge of anger and was ready to throw down right there.  
She probably would have fought Marnie if not for Dory stopping her. Dory shyly said, “No, No, No! she’s not, you see, the thing is umm”, Dory became red, “Well you see, I’m Lesbian, and I-I like her”  
Bea became a little red, she felt her heart slowly beat faster, her sexuality wasn’t something she thought of or questioned, so she just decided to say, “I’m Bi” and smiled, Dory could really make her smile. 

That night, Bea named her Hitmontop “Spindle", and her Pangoro “Jack”, giving them the same smile she had when talking to Dory. She was in her room smiling, if her parents saw her smiling, they’d get suspicious and worry Bea was falling behind on her training, so she smiled in secret. At night she kept her smile, later on letting her Pokemon remain out of their pokeballs as they all slept.

From that day, she slowly felt and realized she liked Dory. From the time she sang, to their talks, to the Chatelaine challenge, to the lunches, she enjoyed her company. She wanted to be around Dory more, and maybe be closer to her, she began staying over more so they could be together more. But she also befriended Marnie, talking to her during math and history, and walking together between the classes, they weren’t as close friends as Bea and Dory, but still, good friends who both liked battling. Bea wanted to keep her and Marnie’s friendship a secret because she knew Dory would want them all to be together, but she feared she’d lose the time she had alone with Dory, that she’d lose Dory. She was already a little on the fence about having Bede around, but Dory’s excitement in having a friend made having him around worth it.

But the past days were somewhat harder, with Dory cheering on Marnie, of course, it would be harder.

It started when Bea saw Dory daydreaming at their usual spot, she woke her up and heard Dory’s plan to cheer on Marnie. Bea felt a silent heartbreak, she was suddenly reminded to her face that Dory liked someone else, she asked, “Oh, I thought you’d cheer me on with what you already have done”  
Bea saw how Dory was genuinely trying to apologize in a way, “Yeah, but you know how I feel about Marnie, and this could be my chance, besides we have all those other battles where I cheer just for you, so it’s fine right?” She said  
Bea still felt heartbroken, her face contorted to it’s more stoic shape as she responded, “Sure, and I guess good luck, so let’s eat before you go to la-la land again”  
Dory giggled but Bea remained silent.

When they walked to the lockers and Marnie asked for Dory, Bea could read Dory. She saw how red and how shy she became, a redness and shyness that Bea just wanted to hug. She saw how happy Marnie made her oblivious love, so she decided she wanted to see Dory be happy. She answered for her, “She is” before nudging them closer.

They spoke, Bea, helping out Dory while just wanting to hug the shy blushing girl in front of her.

“Cute” Marnie said “I guess I’ll see you around” she waved and walked to the locker rooms. Right when she was out of sight, Dory fell backward, Bea caught her and yelled “Dory!”, but Dory was caught on that single word, “She said it’s cute, she said my name”, Dory was no more than a warm puddle of a blushing mess.

When she finally came too, she bombarded Bea with a series of “Thank you”’s and “I love you”’s and hugs and blushing. Bea was bright red as Dory was so excited and so happy, she could almost see tears of joy from her, she said, “Thank you, Thank you, Thank You! I freaking love you! If you ever need help with a crush I will drop everything to help you!” Before continuing her small jumps and “I love you”’s.

Part of her hoped that Evelyn could distract her from Dory, that maybe if she was already in a relationship she could let go of Dory, but it wouldn’t be that easy. Even if Evelyn agreed to a coffee, Dory helping her out was so cute and just made things worse for her. 

It was lucky for Bea that her parents went out on a small work trip, but unlucky she forgot to eat a proper breakfast, lunch, and dinner. She just grabbed some bread or anything else she could find. When Monday came around, she knew she had to go to school, she reluctantly woke up around 5 AM. Instead of some early morning training, she threw on her school uniform, walked to Hammerlocke, and decided to have breakfast at the Yoshida’s Coffee. 

She ordered a cappuccino and one muffin, she sat in a corner of the cafe, looking down at and swirling her drink. She faintly heard the seat in front of her slide out, but then a woman asked in a very cheery and caring voice, “May I sit here Sweetie?”. Bea looked up and saw the women talking to her, she wore the Circhester Ice Uniform (A long white shirt with the Ice logo on it, a short white skirt, and long periwinkle leggings with some snow designs on them), nice white winter boots, a white faux fur hat, and a big scarf that matched her hat, she was somewhat tall and had snow-white skin, blue eyes, and big platinum blonde hair, Bea recognized her as the remaining Circhester gym leader, Melony. She shakily replied to her, “s-sure, Ms. Melony”  
Melony gave a warming giggle and said, “You can just call me Melony sweetie” she sat down in front of Bea, “Now what’s troubling you sweetie?”  
“Nothing’s troubling me…” Bea said  
Melony put a hand on Bea’s, “Sweetie, I’m a mother and I can always tell when something’s bothering someone, and I’ve seen the new gym leader contestants, I’ve heard of how far you’ve been pushed… and I am here if you want to talk about it…”  
Bea was touched by her motherly kindness, she sighed and told her about Dory, Dory’s crush on Marnie, and Bea’s attempt with Evelyn.

Melony smiled, “So you enjoy your time with this Dorothy girl”  
Bea got a little blush, “Y-yeah… she’s really cute, and she has this amazing smile… and she’s just so nice” she felt herself begin daydreaming a little.  
“Would she only do all that stuff for just that Marnie girl?” Melony asked.  
Bea thought a little, “N-no…”  
“You two seem really close, so maybe you two won’t be lovers, but to me, it seems better that you at least have her around”  
“Yeah… I guess… but what if Marnie somehow comes between us?”  
Melony smiled “When does Marnie have lunch?”  
“Same time as me and Dory”  
“And she’s never tried inviting Marnie to lunch? Or tried having lunch close to her”  
Bea was about to answer and then thought. Dory knew when Marnie had lunch and likely wear, but never tried using that, she always spent her lunches alone with Bea.  
“So she hasn’t?” Melony asked rhetorically, “She still likes alone time with you?”  
Bea immediately felt she had to ask Dory, she said: “I have to get to school… thank you so much, Melony!” She got up.  
Melony called out “Good luck~, and feel free to chat again next time you see me!”

Bea ran to the train and then to school. When lunch came around, she greeted Dory with a hug, Dory was surprised and smiled as she said, “Hey Bea… is this how we greet each other now?” She giggles.  
Bea blushes, she shyly asks “H-hey umm Dory… i-if I ask something about you and Marnie, will you be honest”  
Dory blushes and nods, “O-of course Bea,” she says, “you’re kinda the only person I trust with this kinda stuff”  
Bea felt her heart set aflame, “W-well… why don’t you try talking to Marnie at lunch?”  
Dory giggles “Because I completely lose my mind”  
Bea shyly laughs before continuing, “yeah, I guess… b-but you two spoke now… so… w-will you have lunch with her like it’ll be you, me, and Marnie soon?”  
Dory blushed and rubbed her arm, “I-I was thinking of it being like that…” she said, Bea felt a little disheartened, but then Dory smiled, “But if you want, we can keep lunch to just the two of us”  
Bea felt her heart skipped a beat and she immediately hugged Dory again, she shakily said, “Thanks, Dory…”  
Dory smiled and patted her back which just made the hug tighter.

Bea smiled into the hug, and she got an idea. First things first, she decided to stop hiding something, “Dory, I’ve kinda been… friends with Marnie”, Dory became bright red and Bea interjected, “I-it’s nothing serious, we talk between classes and both like battling, she is all yours… but what if I could help you and her become friends?” Dory’s heart could barely control itself and she felt like hiding in her hoodie. Bea giggled and continued, “I can always invite Marnie to hang out with my friends, Bede, and you”.

Dory immediately hugged her and could barely think straight, she shyly asked, “Y-you’d really do that for me?”, Bea nodded and Dory kissed her on the cheek. Bea was surprised and as red, as Dory was, she froze, unsure what to do or how to react, Dory would do it for her as she says, “Thank you so much, Bea!”

Bea may never be _satisfied_ , she may remain a best friend, Dory may really end up with Marnie. But she saw how Marnie could make Dory satisfied, it seemed to her just keeping Dory’s smile in her life was enough. Just that kiss and just hugging would be enough to keep Bea satisfied.


	8. He Said I Was His Friend, Pt.1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dory finally gets to have some time with Marnie

Dory was bright red and excited as she waited for Bea at the battling fields, she was jumping a little, she had on her cheering uniform and she had Pink out to try calming her down. Bea finally left the locker room and Dory ran over to her and asked, “What did she say?”  
Bea smiled, “She said yes,” she said, making Dory and Pink excited, “and I got her number”, Dory squealed and hugged her, Pink wrapping her feelers around them, Bea giggled and asked, “Is Bede on board?”  
“It took a bit of convincing, but he’s coming” Dory kept hugging Bea, “So where are we going?”  
Bea smiles and boasts, “Motostoke lower tier”  
Pink became a little star-struck and Dory smiled and hugged Bea tighter, “Thanks, Bea! I really can’t thank you enough”  
Bea chuckled and ran fingers through her hair, “Don’t worry about it Dory… I think you thanking me is enough” she became a little red as she stared down at the excited Dory.

Saturday would come around and Dory put on her usual Hoodie and leggings and carried Elton to the train station. She was incredibly excited as the train stopped in a cloudy Motostoke, when she saw Bea, she ran over and hugged her tight (that being their new greeting), they sat down and Dory began scratching Elton out of nervousness. Bea chuckled and said, “Calm down Dory, You’ve talked to Marnie before, what’s going to be different?”  
Dory became a little rougher with her scratching, but Elton enjoyed it, “W-well last time we were at tryouts” she said, “We had to be side by side, b-but this is me a-and her a-as friends hanging out…”  
Bea smiles and puts an arm around her, “Dory it’s fine, I’m still here, you’re not completely alone”  
Dory smiles, “yeah-“ She was caught off by the sound of a coming train rising.

The screeches and slowing of wheels came from one direction and became louder as the train arrived. Dory began jumping a little to try and see Marnie, Elton having hidden in her hood pocket after hearing the train. When she saw Marnie step off, Marnie was wearing her more casual outfit, a black leather jacket, and a pink dress while carrying Snickers. Dory’s nervousness rushed back to her as she saw Marnie and Snickers, taking out Elton to hug him for support, Bea chuckled and waved for Marnie to come over.

When she came over she gave a surprised look, “Wow Bea” she said, examining Bea’s face, “I don’t think I’ve seen you smile before”  
Bea blushed and said, “R-really, oh hey! T-this is one of my friends, you remember Dory?” She gave a shy smile as she pushed Dory forward.  
Dory shyly smiled as she was face to face with Marnie, _Just calm down Dory, you spoke before, just say hi and after a while, you’ll talk to her just fine, like last time_ , “H-hey Marnie”, Snickers gave a little chitter, “A-and Snickers”

Marnie gave a little smile, “Hi Dory, Hi Elton, that’s his name right?” She asked as she began scratching behind his ear, Dory’s heart was shot by a fairy type Decidueye. _I have never been so jealous of my Pokémon until now_  
“So are we waiting on anyone else?” Marnie asked  
Dory nodded, but Bea would answer for her, “Yeah, it's a friend of Dory’s, Bede”  
“H-he said he’d be taking a taxi” Dory added  
Marnie then suggested, “Well then let’s wait for him outside the Pokemon center”   
Dory smiled, “oh sure! I’d love to catch up with my cousin Matilda”  
“Oh? She works at the Pokemon Center”  
“Yeah! She’s the nurse there”  
Marnie was a bit surprised, so Bea brought her up to speed, “Her mom is Nurse Joy”  
“Ooh!... so why doesn’t she-“  
Dory already knew the question and was comfortable enough to interrupt, “have the straight pink hair? It’s from my dad and I don’t know much about him”  
Bea would look away and crack a little joke with a giggle, “Also cause you’re not straight”  
Dory would giggle with her and softly shove her, “I heard that!”  
Marnie would giggle too and copy Dory’s shove, Dory’s heart may just stop today.

They went to the Pokemon Center at the upper-tier and Dory would go inside for a little to see her cousin. By the time she came out, Bede arrived and looked very annoyed, “How long will this take?” He said sounding even more annoyed  
Bea chuckled and playfully put an arm around him, “Oh come on Bede!” She said, “Is hanging out with Dory that much of a chore?” Which made Dory laugh. They got through the introductions and made their way to the gear elevator.

On their way down to the lower tier, Bea would whisper to Dory, “Okay, you’re going to be alone with Marnie”  
Dory became all red and whispered back, “What!”  
Before she could say anything else, they arrived at the lower tier, Bea grabbed Bede’s arm and said, “Me and Bede are going to go check out some shops over there”  
Bede could only mutter, “Wait what”  
Before Bea continued with, “why don’t you two check out the boutique”, before Dory or Marnie could respond, Bea said, “Okay great!” and dragged Bede away.

Dory hugged Elton tight, _Bea, we’re friends, but I kinda hate you right now_ , but then Marnie asked her, “Hey I’m not coming in between anything right?”  
Dory was a bit confused and asked, “What do you mean?”  
“Aren’t you and Bea like a couple?” Marnie said, sounding kinda comfortable with the question.  
Dory became bright red and hugged Elton tight, but then she started to laugh to cover her embarrassment, in between laughs she said, “No, no, we’re just friends”  
Marnie would tilt her head a little and ask, “Oh, well what about all that, ‘not straight’ stuff back at the train station?”  
Dory would finally calm her laughter and answer, “Oh no, we’re just best friends, and really good friends so I can definitely see the mix-up… a-also I’m not straight… I-I’m Lesbian” she said, silently saying _I like girls, and you are a girl, I like you, and I’m bad at flirting_  
“Ooh, cool… I don’t really know what I am” Dory became a little red, “I’m not really attracted to just guys or just girls… And I’m not easy to attract”   
“O-oh… s-so do you want to date?” Dory became flustered as she realized how that sounded, “N-not me!, I-I’m I’m not asking you out, I-I mean would you say yes i-if you asked me out-“ Marnie looked a little concerned, Dory became a brighter red and hugged Elton tighter, he enjoyed it at first but was now struggling to get out, “I-I mean a-are you dating in general?”

Marnie would wait for a second to see if she was finished and told her, “I guess I’d date someone if I liked them and they liked me…”  
Dory at that moment just wanted to hold Marnie’s hands and yell, _I like you!_ , but she had to remember that _‘I liked them’_ part. Dory became worried she’d be found out so she changed topics, “So… A-anywhere you’d like to go?”  
Marnie thought a little, “Well there’s this nice boutique I was hoping to check out”  
Dory smiled, “Well then let’s go, lead the way!”

Marnie would take her to one of the nicer boutiques in the city, which Dory silently hated. Dory never really liked big fancy outfits or new shiny watches, she was content with her old Rotom phone model, messy hair, and various hoodies that all looked exactly the same, but she went through with it. She was all red as Marnie had an adorable gleam in her eyes at all the outfits. Dory sat on a bench, and pet Elton who sat on her shoulder, Marnie noticed and sat beside her, holding some dresses, she asked, “Hey, are you okay?”  
Dory was a bit surprised, she became a little red and said, “Oh yeah, I’m just not that into all this fancy stuff”  
Marnie got a surprised look and asked, “What!? You really don’t think this stuff is cute or pretty?”  
Dory became a little nervous, “I-I do think they’re cute...but I don’t really like wearing this stuff”, she said  
Marnie would think a little, “Then do you want to spend some time with Snickers?”, she then held up her Morpeko who had been resting on her shoulder  
Dory became bright red, put her hands up, and moved over a little, “I-I don’t do well with Morpekos… I have my own that hates me…” _I can’t let Marnie see how bad I am with caring for Morpeko’s_  
Marnie got a little smile and slowly put Snickers on Dory’s lap, Dory became incredibly nervous and kept her hands up. Marnie giggled and Dory felt her heart melt away, Marnie then reassured her, “I fed her already, she probably won’t go hangry”

As Snickers sat in Dory’s lap, she was happy and smiled at Dory. Dory slowly lowered her hands to her sides, then she slowly moved one hand towards Snicker’s head. The Morpeko innocently smiled at her as she began scratching her head, Dory smiled back and was genuinely surprised by how calm she was, she softly scratched her cheek. Marnie smiled watching them and went to pick out some outfits as Dory simply enjoyed being able to pet a Morpeko.

After a bit, Marnie went over to her with three dresses and shyly said, “Hey, mind helpin’ me try on some dresses?”  
Dory became bright red and put her hand off Morpeko, _M-me a-and Marnie, a-alone in a dressing room_  
Marnie blushed as she realized how that sounded, “I-I mean you tell me how I look in’em”  
Dory had a little sigh of relief, “S-sure” she said.

They went towards a changing room area, Dory sat on a bench in front of some doors and Marnie went into the changing room opposite Dory’s bench, she began petting Snickers, making her Dory’s new stress pet. But she could tell Elton was getting jealous and in fear of starting a feud between her ace and her crush’s ace, she began petting Elton too. 

Marnie changed and opened the door so Dory could see her wearing an indigo version of her usual dress, Dory blushed seeing the dress. She was able to muster some words, “Y-you look… amazing…”  
Marnie smiled and fixed the dress a little, she then giggled as she said “But I guess I would since this is just like my usual outfit”  
Dory smiled back, “I-I guess,” she said “b-but you look really good in blue” _You probably look good in everything_  
Marnie smiles, “Thanks,” she said and went back to change again. She came back out in a black shirt dress.  
Dory was a little redder, “Y-you look incredible”  
Marnie smiled and became a little red herself, “T-thanks… say umm… I was lookin’ and…” she went into the changing room and picked up a black knitted Parka, she came back and handed it to Dory, “I know you don’t like all the fancy stuff… b-but it’s warm… a-and it kinda looks like your hoodie… a-and I think it would look good on you…”

Dory was completely red, _S-she thought of me, she was thinking of me, she saw that and thought it would look good on me, I-I guess it’s not that fancy_ , she said “A-alright… I-I’ll try it on…” and took the parka.  
She moved Snickers off her lap and walked into the changing room, but Marnie was a little confused and asked, “Why don’t you just try it on here?”  
Dory became embarrassed as she had to explain, “Y-you see… t-this hoodie is really comfortable… a-and I don’t take it off that often… s-so sometimes I don’t… have a shirt…”  
Marnie took a second to understand and became as red as her, “O-oh...j-just go…” Dory nodded and went inside.

She quickly changed and then admired herself in the mirror. The parka was very warm and had a nice pattern, and it being chosen by Marnie somehow made it better, it almost felt like an indirect hug from her, the only real issues were that it showed how she was kinda flat and the break of the Parka that showed off her skin, but she didn’t mind much. When she came out wearing it, Marnie had calmed down and was scratching Elton, she gave Dory a little smile,   
“You look great,” she said  
That settled it, Dory wanted to buy it, she looked for the price tag and realized it was in the break, (Marnie got a little embarrassed, noticing the break problem) she looked at the tag and noticed it was ₽10,080. She sighed and Marnie asked, “What’s up? don’t you like it?”  
Dory blushed and quickly responded, “N-no! I-i love it, I-it looks great! I-it’s just a bit… too expensive for me, I only have enough for lunch”  
“Oh… if you want I can get it for you”  
Dory waved her hands in front of her, “N-no! I-I couldn’t have you pay for it!”  
Marnie smiled and put a hand on Dory’s shoulder, making Dory completely freeze, “Don’t worry, my brother gets a good amount of money from being a gym leader, and from his albums… and he lets me use his credit card”, she gave a little giggle and Dory shyly giggled with her.

Dory went back into the changing room for her hoodie back, when she stepped back out, Marnie handed her a light orange sweater shirt with a DENSOKU logo on it (a running boltund) and said, “Here, you should probably wear this…”  
Dory blushed a little and said, “Oh no, you’re already getting the parka you don't-“  
Marnie put a hand up to stop her, “I really insist you wear it, I don’t really want to see you having a wardrobe malfunction” Dory became redder and Marnie became a little red herself, “N-not that i-it’s bad, I-I'm sure they look good- t-that sounded weird, j-just take the shirt” Marnie looked away, redder than before, and Dory took the shirt and went to change.

After paying for the clothes, Dory wore the parka and shirt as they walked outside the store, holding their respective Pokemon, Dory asked, trying to move past the small conversation over the shirt, “So… your brother just lets you use his money?”  
Marnie said, “Well… it’s not exactly letting me since I usually take his money so he doesn’t smoke”  
Dory felt slapped in the face by the shift, she’d ask “You’re brother smokes?”  
“Yeah, but I’ve been trying to help him stop”  
“Oh…nice he wants to stop…”  
“Oh no, I want him to stop, he hates it” she giggles, and Dory giggles with her.  
“Should we go meet up with Bea and Bede?”  
“Yeah, I mean we were supposed to be hanging out together”  
Dory shyly laughs, “Y-yeah, we should probably go…”

The two looked around a bit and eventually found Bea looking around for them. When Dory saw Bea, she ran over, hugged her, and Bea said as she hugged back, “Hey Dory, looks like you just got a nice new outfit”  
Dory smiled as she did a playful twirl and said “Yeah! Marnie got it for me”  
Bea blushed and remembered that Dory and Marnie were together, she said “R-really?”  
Marnie smiled a little, “Yeah, I thought it would look cute on her and I was right”, making Dory blush, “h-hey, where’s Bede?” Marnie asked.  
Bea groaned and said, “He left a while ago, said he was really bored and would rather train, I don’t mind much though, he was as interesting as a dunsparce”  
Dory laughs and softly shoves her, “He’s not that bad! He just not a people person”  
“Sure” Bea chuckles “So I was getting kinda hungry, and there’s a Yoshida Cafe nearby”  
Dory gets a little smirk, “do you know every Yoshida Cafe location?”  
Bea chuckles and softly punches her arm, “There are only three, it’s not that many”  
Dory giggles and they all start walking over.

They got a table together and all got themselves some Cappuccinos, Bea bought ten brownies and some cakes, and they all chatted a little. It would soon be getting late and Bea, Marnie, and Dory all got on a train to Hammerlocke, on the way home, they all got a weather notification:

## WARNING: Blizzard coming over White Hills, Route 9 Tunnel under maintenance

Marnie and Dory got worried, and both looked at Bea, she asked, “What?”  
Marnie said, “My Bro’ never got his license”  
“And my mom is still working…” Dory added “Your parents can probably help us home”  
Bea became nervous, not ready to tell her parents about having friends, she asks, “W-why not get a Corviknight Taxi?”  
“They usually go slower during blizzards,” Marnie said  
Bea sighed, “Let me try… just give me a second…”, she went to the opposite side of the train and called her father. She immediately gained her cold unfeeling composure as he answered, even standing straight up as though he was right there, she said, “Father”  
He responded, “Beatrice, what do you need”  
“I was on my way back from training in the White Hills and a blizzard is starting”  
“Impressive”  
Bea waited for a second, she spoke again, “I would like some help, there are some people here in need of a ride back to Spikemuth”  
“They can go on their own”  
“But… won’t you at least come to pick me up if I help them?”  
“If you help them, I expect you to go through the storm yourself, see you home Beatrice,” he said  
“Yes father,” Bea said as her father hung up, She went back and told Marnie and Dory they would have to walk.

Most of route 8 was a calm walk that was kinda chilly, but as soon as they reached the Steamdrift Way, they were hit with a blizzard. Dory gave her hoodie to Bea, who didn’t have the benefit of a jacket or parka, the group had to stay close to stay warm. As they walked. Soon their phones would lose signal and they were on their own, but then, Bea noticed someone come out of their house. She somewhat recognized the figure and could make out big white hair and a white ice uniform. The figure looked at the group, and Bea started making them all get closer to it, as Bea got closer, she could more clearly see the face, it was Melony.


	9. He Said I Was His Friend, Pt.2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dory, Marnie, and Bea have to wait out a storm in Melony's home.

Melony stood in the doorway, she squinted a bit and was soon able to recognize Bea’s face. She rushed over and brought Bea into a hug, raising her off the ground a little, she exclaimed in worry, “Bea sweetie!”

Bea hugged her back, “Hi Melony,” she said, beginning to warm up from the hug. Melony was like a big warm pillow after trudging through a storm.

“Oh sweetie, what’re you doing out in this blizzard?” Melony asked, “please come inside” Melony looked up at Marnie and Dory, “And bring your friends in too, they look half-frozen”

They all went inside, the interior was in the elegant yet comforting Circhester style, the wooden front door led to a small hallway with a light blue wallpaper, a cyan carpet, and openings leading to the living room and kitchen, and further down were some doors, and there was also an oak wood staircase leading to the second floor. The walls were decorated with various family pictures and the floor was a small mess of toys. 

Melony looked at Marnie and Dory to introduce herself, “It’s nice having you here, I’m Melony, you probably already know that” she had a little giggle, “You can take your jackets off”

Bea said “Thanks” as she took off the hoodie Dory gave her and hung it on a coat rack in the main hall.

Marnie said in a little polite tone, “Thank you, but I’d rather keep mine on, I’m Marnie”

Melony examined her a little and smiled, “your brother is the Spikemuth Gym Leader right? I recognize his eyes and hair… and…fashion sense”. Melony was a little hesitant as she never saw eye to eye with Piers and his punk style

Marnie gave a little smile back, “yeah he is”

Melony then looked at Dory, she examined her for a bit, but she then stepped back and gave an apologetic smile. “Oh, I’m sorry!” She said, “I just know I saw your face and eyes before Ms…”

Dory smiled shyly as she said “Joy, I’m Dory Joy”

Melony snapped her fingers, “That’s where I’ve seen you!” She said, “Your mum works at the Pokemon center here right?”

Dory shyly chuckled, “No, she works at the Spikemuth Pokemon center, my cousins Clementine and Cecilla work here, but don’t worry, people outside the family usually have a hard time telling us apart”

“But you’re definitely different,” she said as she softly pet Dory’s dirty blonde hair, but then stopped.

“Yeah” she chuckled. “The hair is from my dad, but I’m not the only different one, my Aunt Wicke in Alola doesn’t even have blue eyes, oh! And speaking of family I should probably tell my mom I’m here”

Marnie chimed in, “Yeah, my big bro must be worried sick”

Melony told them, “Marnie, why don’t you go to the dining room, it’s connected to the living room, you can’t miss it”, she pointed it out for her.

“Thanks,” she said as she went through the living room and took out her phone.

“And you can go up to the bathroom Dory” Melony continued, “it’s upstairs, first door on the right, try to stay quiet, I was finally able to put the triplets down for a nap”.

Dory smiled and said, “Thank you Ms.Melony” as she went upstairs.

Melony turned around and was a little surprised as Bea was still there, she smiled and politely said, “Oh Bea sweetie!” She giggled “you can just call your parents on the downstairs phone, it’s just down the hall”.

Bea rubbed her arm and looked at the floor, “I can’t actually” she said in a disheartened voice.

Melony became worried, “oh, is your phone broken?” She asked. 

Bea sighs, “No, they wanted me to power through the storm…”

That just made Melony more worried for her, she gave a little smile to help comfort her. She said “Well how about you come help me in the kitchen, my little Hami went out to get some groceries so I could use the help”

“Sure,” she said, “What are you making?”

“Salad Curry, can you grab the Salad mix from the cabinet and start stirring it in that pot? I’m already cutting the Oran Berries”

Marnie and Dory finished their calls and went downstairs, Marnie now carrying Snickers for some comfort. Bea and Melony were putting some finishing touches on dinner before cooking it, as Melony put it to cook, the front door opened. Melony smiled and rushed to the front, Marnie, Bea, and Dory poked their heads around the corner to see Melony hugging a girl in a large white coat.

The girl looked a lot like Melony, having blue eyes, pale skin, and white hair which made sense as she was Melony’s daughter. Melony pet her large hair softly and stepped back as she said, “I’m so sorry you had to go through that storm Hami”.

The girl, whose name is apparently _’ Hami’_ , said “It’s okay mom”.

Melony smiled and asked, “How is sniffles?”.

Hami smiles and opens her coat to reveal a cubchoo in a baby carrier, happily sleeping, “He’s just fine” she said before she finally noticed her guests. Her eyes seemed to gleam as she approached them, she said, “Hey! You two are in my battling class right”.

Marnie and Bea immediately remembered her, Marnie said, “Oh yeah, I’m Marnie”.

“I’m Bea, this is Dory,” Bea said as she motioned to Dory “she’s in the cheerleading class next to us”.

Dory gave a small wave and said “Hi”, Never having met her.

Hami smiled as she waved back, “Oh yeah, I think I’ve seen you around” she said. Her smile was a lot like her mother’s and she shared her welcoming personality, “I’m Hami” she continued, finally deciding to introduce herself, “and this is my little Cubchoo, Sniffles”. She held up her Cubchoo who gave an adorable yawn.

Bea got a little smile and asked, “I don’t think I’ve seen him battle”

Hami gasped and hugged Sniffles close to her, she said “I can’t let my little Sniffles battle, he’s just a cub!”. She started petting him, “I usually let my other Pokémon fight, like my angel”l

Dory giggled and asked, “Did you name your entire team too?”.

Hami gasped and smiled, she was excited as she asked, “You did too! Let’s compare our teams!” While jumping a little.

Dory smiled, catching some of her excitement, “Sure!” She said, but then remembered something. She looked at Melony and shyly said, “I called my mum and she said I’ll have to sleep over”

“I’m in the same boat”, Marnie added.

Melony gave them a warm smile and said, “That’s perfectly fine, you can share a room with Hami”

Hami grabbed Dory’s wrist and said “Great!”, she then rushed Dory upstairs with Bea and Marnie following them.

Hami’s room was kind of small, it had a light blue wallpaper all over, opposite the entrance was a closet door, on the wall, there was one window that looked out on the Circhester street where the storm was raging. Under the window was Hami’s bed with a knitted blue blanket, beside her bed was a desk made from wood that resembled the doors, Hami sat in a comfy-looking chair and took out the rest of her team of five.

Hami set her Cubchoo on the bed, “You already know Sniffles!”. She then picked a Snom off the ground and hugged her Frosmoth, “The Snom is Cinnamon and the Frosmoth is Angel, My Sealeo is Flo'' she set the Snom on the back of her Sealeo. She let go of Angel and held up an alolan Vulpix, “And this is Mittens!”

Dory came a little closer and Mittens adorably sneezed. Dory giggled, “That’s cool!” She said, “You have an Alolan Vulpix!, I actually have a Hoennian Zigzagoon” she took out his Pokeball and released Elton. She carried him and said, “This is Elton!”

Hami squealed as she set down Mittens and then took Elton from Dory’s arms and hugged him tightly. She exclaimed, “He is so cute! the Galarian ones are too rough for me, but this little guy is adorable” she held him tight and started scratching his head making him purr. Marnie and Bea joined them and gave their Pokémon quick introductions, Hami gushed at Falinks, Snickers, Starr, and Lennon, and raised Pink’s Ego before some of them were returned.

“So why have we never talked before?” Hami asked petting Pink who sat right next to her.

Dory smiled and said, “Well me and Bea like having lunch together”.

Marnie shrugs, “I usually have lunch near the battling fields so I can start training after… or get more food for Snickers”. Snickers gave a little chitter and Marnie pet him while giving him a berry she kept.

Hami squeals as she pulls them all into a hug, making them let go of the Pokemon they had with them. She exclaims, “We can all be one big lunch group of girlfriends!”. She was excited but Marnie, Bea, and Dory weren’t as excited, and they still weren’t persuaded when she said, “We can even bring in my best friend Klara!”

“Klara!?” All three exclaimed in complete confusion.

“Yeah, Klara!” Hami said, her excitement still apparent, “You battled her before, right Marnie?”.

“Yeah…but I wouldn’t exactly call her friend material”.

“And she kinda scares me,” Dory said.

Hami let them all go and puffed her cheeks annoyed. “You guys are mean,” she said, “Sure, she’s kinda extra, but her heart is in the right place… most of the time, would it hurt to try? Especially you Dory, she seems to like you”.

 _Seems is an understatement_ , Dory sighed and sat with her legs crossed. “I guess we only met once,” she said, but then she became a bit red, “But I don’t really like her… I-I like someone else”.

“So what!” She said, “Are you just going to wait around for the person you like and ignore everyone else?”.

“Well, I… I guess so…”

“So you’re really going to let every person who may like you pass on by while you sit around waiting for that one person?”, Wisdom seemed to run in her family.

Dory started thinking about that, but it was cut short when Melony poked her head in and said in a sing-songy tone, “Dinner’s ready!”. Dory took the chance and quickly left the room.

Dory had dinner with Melony, Hami, and the triplets. The triplets were Momo, Luff, and Gaya, they all had the same blonde hair like their mother and sister. Momo and Luff were very excitable and acted almost the same while both wearing shorts and t-shirts, at the table, they joked and threw food at each other as little kids would. Gaya was much more quiet and shy, he dressed closer to his mom, with a big scarf and a fluffy hat.

As Dory ate, she began to genuinely think about what Hami said. she had a deep love for Marnie, sure she only now started talking to her, but she was getting somewhere. She started thinking, _Am I just gonna wait around and ignore everyone who may like me? What if someone liked me, I rejected them, and I missed out on a happy relationship… and what if Marnie gets in a happy relationship…_.

She glanced at Marnie, she was calmly eating her food. Dory felt a little hurt as she started to imagine Marnie with someone else, but a part of her drifted towards Bea, Bea would likely be right there to comfort her if that happened, but what next?.

When Bea checked on Dory, she could see the gears turning in her head over future possibilities. Bea became concerned and put a hand on Dory’s shoulder. Dory became red and quickly finished before she said, “I-I think I’ll head to bed early…”.

Hami quickly finished too, she said, “Let me help you set up a bed!”. She stood up ready to help Dory.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, sorry it's been a while. I've had some mental stuff going on and I may be delaying posting the next chapters, so sorry, but I'm not abandoning the series, I promise.


End file.
